Accreditation process

The American Bar Association Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar sets the minimum education standards for U.S. law schools, reviews the schools’ programs for compliance and approves or denies accreditation.

To gain provisional approval, new law schools must put together an exhaustive self-study and complete a site evaluation questionnaire.

Next, a site evaluation team will visit the institution for three days to observe classes and interview faculty, students and university officials. It will submit its findings to the ABA’s accreditation committee.

The committee will then hold a hearing at which representatives of the new law school will appear. The school must show it is in substantial compliance with each of the standards and must present a plan for becoming fully compliant within three years after receiving provisional approval.

If the accreditation committee finds the school meets the requirements, it will recommend provisional approval. If the accreditation committee determines the school is deficient in meeting the standards, it will recommend against provisional approval. The school then has the option of addressing the problems and reapplying.

With provisional accreditation, the school is entitled to all the rights of fully approved schools and its graduates are entitled to the same recognition that is given to graduates of fully approved schools.

A school with provisional approval has three to five years to gain full approval. During this period, the site evaluation team will continue to visit the campus to monitor the school.

The ABA Council makes the decision for granting full approval based on the findings and conclusions of the accreditation committee. Once the council gives full approval, the decision is final and effective immediately.•

Source: American Bar Association