Trump Administration Considers Stripping American Bar Association of Law School Accreditation Authority
The future of the American Bar Association's (ABA) role as the primary accreditor for U.S. law schools is now in the hands of the Trump Education Department. This follows an 8-8 deadlock by a federal panel, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), on whether to revoke the ABA's gatekeeper status due to numerous federal compliance failures. The decision now rests with Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent, who has up to 90 days to determine if the ABA will retain its decades-long accreditation monopoly over approximately 200 law schools nationwide. Department of Education staff have already recommended stripping the ABA's status, citing non-compliance with over 26 recognition criteria. A core concern among NACIQI members was the ABA accrediting body's lack of independence from the broader ABA organization, a requirement under federal law for institutional accreditors.
