ABA Journal, As ABA Legal Ed council awaits Dept. of Education accreditation decision, educators consider future:
U.S. Department of Education Under Secretary Nicholas Kent’s decision regarding the accreditor status of the council of the ABA Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar will come by year’s end, but legal education leaders are already preparing for what it might mean if the council is stripped of its powers.
Last Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity voted not to make a recommendation regarding the council’s status as the sole national accreditor of law schools, a role it has held since 1952.
That came after six-plus hours of heated debate the previous day as part of the accreditor’s ongoing five-year review process. The bipartisan panel was ultimately deadlocked and unable to come to an agreement on several different options. One recommended the council lose powers entirely, and two others proposed limiting the council’s powers until it provided documentation that it met department regulations requiring it be separate and independent from the overall ABA.
Now, without a recommendation from the committee, Kent’s final determination will be made based on the transcripts from the committee hearing and an 86-page report from the Department of Education that recommended stripping the council of its national accreditor status. The council will be sending comments during the 10-day response period following the hearing.
The committee’s unexpected deferral is itself an answer, says Kellye Testy, executive director and CEO of the Association of American Law Schools. While many legal educators held their breath during the hearings, expecting the council’s powers to be clawed back, “most people expect there to be a denial” once the under secretary weighs in.
DeShawn Carter (J.D. 2027, UC-Berkeley), Reassessing the ABA’s Accreditation: Who Gets to Become a Lawyer?, 17 Calif. L. Rev. Online 160 (2026):
As the ABA faces mounting scrutiny from both state governments and federal oversight, its long-standing authority over legal education and professional entry stands at a crossroads. This administration’s push against ABA’s accreditor status underscores the urgency of reform and transparency. Whether the organization adapts to shifting political and institutional pressures or clings to its traditional role will determine not only its own legitimacy but the future of legal accreditation.
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