Legal Ed council calls for comments regarding fully online law schools
Two proposals regarding the accreditation of fully online law schools were posted for comment by the council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar this week. (Image from Shutterstock)
Two proposals regarding the accreditation of fully online law schools were posted for comment by the council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar this week.
Revisions to Standards 102 and 306 focus on allowing online law schools to become eligible for provisional and full ABA accreditation without needing to submit substantive change applications.
Currently, Standard 105(c) states that law schools must already be accredited to apply for the substantive change. Fully approved law schools may offer up to 50% of distance learning, according to ABA regulations. If an accredited school applies for a substantive change to fully online and is approved, it can become 100% online.
Those rules exclude fully online law schools starting from scratch because only law schools with brick-and-mortar facilities are now eligible for ABA accreditation.
In November, the council voted to collect comments on proposed changes to loosen standards regarding how new and existing law schools with no physical campus apply for accreditation.
This comment period will last 60 days instead of the typical 30 days, according to a 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.
“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,” the memo says.
Comments regarding other revisions related to online schools are encouraged, according to the memo.
If the handful of existing fully online law schools gain full accreditation, their graduates then would be eligible to take the bar exam in any state. Currently, few states allow graduates of non-ABA-approved law schools to take the bar exam.
