ABA proposal to accredit online law schools faces opposition from law deans
A proposal to accredit fully online law schools has met pushback from 26 law school deans, saying more information is needed regarding bar pass and employment rates of online law school graduates. (Image from Shutterstock)
A proposal to accredit fully online law schools has met pushback from 26 law school deans, including those from the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, the University of California at Berkeley School of Law and Penn State Dickinson Law, saying more information is needed regarding bar pass and employment rates of online law school graduates.
In November, the ABA’s council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar voted to gather public comments regarding its proposed standard changes allowing new and existing law schools with no physical campus to apply for accreditation.
Currently, only law schools with brick-and-mortar campuses can become accredited for fully online JD programs, and only graduates of accredited schools may take the bar exam.
Comments were open from Jan. 23 until March 25. Supporters who want fully online law schools back the proposed changes as a way to lower the price of and expand access to law school.
The deans oppose moving forward. Their memos states: “The council has not, as far as we know, articulated a rationale for departing from this practice or identified the problem that the proposed revisions to Standard 102 and 306 are intended to solve.”
Alberto R. Gonzales, the dean of the Belmont University College of Law, agreed, stating in his comments, “the proposed move to fully online law degrees would result in lesser educational outcomes for law student.”
The Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar also opposed the proposal, but the State Bar of Montana and the Indiana Supreme Court wrote in favor of the ABA’s amendment.
In February, the Indiana Supreme Court gave its blessing to allow graduates of schools not accredited by the ABA to request a waiver to take the bar exam, following California’s early move. The move aimed to address the shortage of attorneys in Indiana.
Many students, faculty and graduates of Purdue Global Law School, described as the oldest U.S. online law school, also wrote in support.
The council meets next in May, but a decision might be further off.
“Because of the significance of this change and the potential for disruption to existing schools, the [Strategic Review Committee] anticipates that this proposal may go through more than one round of notice and comment,” according to a January memo from Judge Bridget Mary McCormack, the council chair and a 2021 ABA Journal Legal Rebel, and William Adams, managing director of accreditation and legal education.
