ABA puts one law school on probation and censures another
The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar announced on Tuesday that it is placing the Charlotte School of Law on probation and publicly censuring Valparaiso University School of Law.
The section said it is taking the actions because both schools were out of compliance with ABA accreditation standards.
According to Law.com, the action is part of “a recent crackdown on campuses it says are enrolling students who aren’t likely to graduate and pass the bar.” In August, the ABA legal education section directed the Ave Maria School of Law to take specific remedial actions.
The ABA legal education section is requiring the Charlotte and Valparaiso law schools to supply the section’s accreditation committee with admissions data and methodology for the fall 2017 entering class. The ABA section is also requiring both law schools to inform students about first-time bar pass rates by class quartiles for their law schools, and to inform each individual student about the quartile he or she is in.
The notice regarding Charlotte School of Law is here (PDF), and the notice regarding Valparaiso University School of Law is here (PDF).
Both law schools remain accredited and have two years to regain compliance with ABA standards, according to Law.com.
The deans of both Valparaiso and Charlotte told Law.com that they are already acting to address ABA concerns.
See also:
ABA Journal: “What do falling bar-passage rates mean for legal education—and the future of the profession?”
ABAJournal.com: “New Texas law school seeking ABA accreditation gets more time to make its case”
