Navigating Law School Accreditation: A Comprehensive Guide

While the "University of American Samoa Law School" is a fictional entity popularized by television, the concept of law school accreditation is very real and has significant implications for aspiring lawyers. Understanding the accreditation landscape, particularly concerning the American Bar Association (ABA), is crucial for making informed decisions about legal education.

The Role of Accreditation

Accreditation serves as a crucial quality control mechanism in legal education. The accreditation process is overseen by the American Bar Association (ABA) and can take a number of years for a law school to complete. Accreditation is used to ensure a level of uniformity among law schools and to continually hold those schools to a high standard. Failure to meet the ABA’s standards can ultimately mean that a law school will lose its accreditation.

ABA Accreditation: The Gold Standard

The American Bar Association (ABA) oversees the law school accreditation process. The American Bar Association is responsible for setting legal education standards and minimum bar examination pass rates for accredited law schools. A law school receives accreditation from the state in which they operate according to its laws. However, the state also recognizes any school that is an ABA-accredited law school.

State Accreditation

A law school receives accreditation from the state in which they operate according to its laws. However, the state also recognizes any school that is an ABA-accredited law school. The JFK School of Law at National University is accredited by The Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California. Studying at, or graduating from, this law school may not qualify a student to take the bar examination or be admitted to practice law in jurisdictions other than California. JFK School of Law at National University makes no promise or guarantee that a student who completes the Juris Doctor degree will be licensed or admitted to practice law in California or any other State. Individual States have their own specific requirements for sitting for the bar exam, including, but not limited to an individual’s history and character to pass the Character review.

Why Accreditation Matters

The difference between ABA-accredited law schools and unaccredited law schools is significant for students. To obtain a license to practice law, nearly all law school graduates are required to apply for bar admission through their state’s board of bar examiners. Generally, this board is an agency of the highest state court in the jurisdiction (occasionally, the board is tied to the state's bar association). One of the criteria for licensure is a demonstration of competence. Therefore, it is imperative, when researching JD degree programs, to confirm that they are all ABA-accredited and that you will be eligible to sit for the bar exam.

The Consequences of Losing Accreditation

Failure to meet the ABA’s standards can ultimately mean that a law school will lose its accreditation.

When a law school loses its accreditation, several scenarios can unfold:

The school presents a teach-out plan: So current students can stay at the law school and graduate. The law school operates until the last class graduates and does not accept enrollment of new students.
The law school continues as a non-accredited law school: The current students complete their degree at the law school or transfer to another ABA-accredited law school.
The law school closes immediately.

For example, San Diego's Thomas Jefferson School of Law has limited accreditation status meaning it can graduate its current students until 2023. Then they are no longer an ABA-accredited school.

Can You Sue a School for Losing Accreditation?

Generally, you cannot successfully sue a school for losing its accreditation.

Validity of a J.D. from a School That Loses Accreditation

If you already received your J.D. agree from a school, it is valid despite your school losing ABA accreditation.

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ABA Standards and Bar Passage Rates

Among other issues, the ABA standards cover bar exam passing rates. ABA accreditation standard 316 requires 75% of the schools' law students to pass the bar exam within two years of graduation. This rule was in response to law schools lowering admission standards for their degree programs, for example, admitting students with low LSAT scores.

The law schools can respond in writing to the ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions with improved statistics. Furthermore, law schools point out that bar passage rates in the past couple of years have been negatively affected by COVID-19. For example, only 65% of first-time applicants in California passed the July 2022 California bar exam. That puts many California J.D.

Online and Hybrid J.D. Programs

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and policy changes from the ABA, many people contemplating a law degree have turned their attention to online Juris Doctor programs. As is often the case, not all online legal education programs are equal in quality nor are all online courses taught the same way.

Hybrid JD programs are a combination of in-person and online courses. Before COVID-19 forced ABA-accredited law schools to move online in the spring of 2020, four of those schools had previously applied for, and been granted, a variance from the ABA’s rules regarding distance education. Each of these law schools, Mitchell Hamline School of Law, University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, Syracuse University College of Law, and University of Dayton School of Law, have a hybrid Juris Doctor program. A hybrid Juris Doctor program is a combination of online and in-person education.

The hybrid JD degree program is just as rigorous as the on-campus program; however, a hybrid program gives its students considerably more flexibility. Hybrid law degree programs such as JDinteractive at Syracuse University College of Law, the Blended Learning program at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, and the Online Hybrid JD at the University of Dayton School of Law only require students to come to campus for short periods a few times a year. This freedom from campus means that students who cannot live at school and are not within driving distance of a law school can now work towards a law degree. Limited time on campus also means that students can continue to work while pursuing their legal studies.

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In the summer of 2020, the ABA adopted resolutions that arguably make it easier for other ABA-accredited law schools to develop hybrid Juris Doctor programs. Since this resolution was initially proposed, Suffolk University Law School has received ABA approval to add a hybrid Juris Doctor program. In addition, St.

Experiential learning is one way hybrid JD programs are able to meet the ABA’s standards. Externships and other forms of experiential learning allow students to apply their legal education in a real-world setting. The University of Dayton School of Law’s Online Hybrid J.D. program includes an externship as one of its graduation requirements. Likewise, Vermont Law School requires a Semester-in-Practice as part of its Reduced-Residency Juris Doctor program. Both of these externships are one semester long and allow students to further their education by working for legal practitioners in different areas.

In addition to the one-third limitation on distance education credits, the ABA also provides that up to one-third of required classroom minutes may be satisfied at “distance,” without counting as distance education credits. One result of this policy is that some classes can be taught both online and in person without counting towards the cap on distance education credits. The FlexTime JD Program offered at the Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center did not apply for a variance, nevertheless this part-time law degree program only requires its students to attend class in person 26 Sundays per year. A law degree from a hybrid JD program is the same as one from a residential program.

Academic Support and Success Programs

Many law schools offer robust academic support programs to help students succeed.

The law school's extensive Academic Success Program begins before enrollment, offers students support through graduation, and continues until students have passed the bar examination. LMU Law's Orientation program introduces new students to academic success techniques and builds skills in context by integrating their first Torts class session into Orientation. The Dean’s Fellows Program is designed to help facilitate first-year students' self-regulated learning skills by focusing on studying strategies, organization, time management, and exam preparation for their first-year courses through scheduled workshops, office hours, and one-on-one tutoring sessions. The program is primarily student-run by Dean's Fellows, who are upper-level students who have demonstrated the highest potential for leadership, academic achievement, and a diversity of life experiences. LMU Law conducts a series of workshops primarily during the first semester. These workshops are designed to complement the skills discussed and practiced in the required Legal Foundations course that all first-year students take in their fall semester. Despite a proven record of success and the vote of confidence that necessarily comes with each offer of admission, some students from underrepresented groups deal with self-doubt and unseen influences that can ultimately interfere with academic performance. In addition, LMU Law's commitment to academic success continues with our Faculty Advising program throughout law school. At the start of each academic calendar, LMU Law assigns each student a faculty advisor: a member of the full-time faculty who provides guidance on course selection, career opportunities, and other issues. This program connects every student to an individual member of our faculty, each of whom is a specialist in their field.

Non-ABA Accredited Law Schools

JFK School of Law at National University is accredited by The Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California. Prior to enrolling at this law school, studying at, or graduating from, this law school may not qualify a student to take the bar examination or be admitted to practice law in jurisdictions other than California.

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