The Trump administration is expected to decide by late December whether to strip the American Bar Association’s (ABA) law school accrediting arm of federal recognition, a move that would not automatically end the ABA’s accreditation of law schools or change state bar-admission rules but could accelerate states’ efforts to approve alternative paths to becoming a lawyer.
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that → expect → lawyer
Two legal education experts told Fox News Digital that while most law students would be unlikely to lose access to federal loans if the ABA's accrediting arm loses recognition, the decision could accelerate a broader shift away from the organization's longstanding dominance over legal education, with states increasingly exploring alternative accreditation pathways that could change how law schools operate and who qualifies to practice law.
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who → tell → law
"I think the biggest thing is, everyone should know that the federal recognition of the ABA is just the first step," Adam Biggs, general counsel of the University of Austin, told Fox News Digital.
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Biggs → think → Digital
"If they get knocked off their perch, that's going to supercharge the conversations of these state supreme courts to create alternative pathways that are not just the ABA."
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that → knock → pathways
The looming decision follows a September vote by the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), the federal panel that advises the Education Department on accreditation matters, which remained deadlocked over whether to recommend renewing the ABA's federal accreditation recognition.
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which → loom → recognition
Education Department staff have already recommended denying renewal, and now the decision rests in the hands of Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent to rule on whether the ABA's accrediting arm can retain its federally recognized status, which it has held since 1952.
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it → recommend → 1952
The ABA has long served as the primary gatekeeper for legal education in the United States, with most states requiring graduates to have attended an ABA-accredited law school to qualify for the bar exam.
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states → serve → exam
Although losing federal recognition would not automatically end that arrangement, critics argue it could accelerate efforts already underway in some states to recognize alternative law school approval systems, potentially allowing institutions to experiment with cheaper, shorter programs outside the ABA’s traditional accreditation model.
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institutions → lose → model
One such alternative is taking shape in Texas, where Biggs is helping develop a new law school at the University of Austin (UATX) that would operate without ABA accreditation.
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that → take → accreditation
The university is considering a two-year law program or a model that combines undergraduate and legal studies.
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that → consider → studies
It plans to make tuition free and avoid federal funding altogether.
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tuition → plan → funding
The proposed school could also depart from traditional law school staffing models by relying more heavily on practicing attorneys and federal judges as adjunct instructors, rather than maintaining the extensive full-time faculty structure that Biggs says ABA accreditation standards require and that can pose a high bar for institutions.
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that → propose → institutions
Biggs argued that the ABA's longstanding influence over legal education has discouraged such experimentation by imposing what he described as a "one size fits all elitist model of education," which he said drives up costs and limits schools' ability to offer alternative approaches to training future lawyers.
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he → argue → lawyers
"Right now, the model they force makes it impossible to cut overhead, and it's going to be an expensive product," Biggs said, criticizing the ABA's accreditation requirements.
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Biggs → force → requirements
"That makes the decision for you.
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That → make → you
Because you need to live in a big city to go work at a firm to pay off your massive amount of debt.
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you → need → debt
Biggs added that reducing the cost of legal education could help address attorney shortages in rural and underserved communities, where graduates carrying substantial student debt may struggle to pursue lower-paying legal work.
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graduates → add → work
Allowing law schools to operate with less overhead, he said, could give new attorneys greater flexibility to serve those communities and potentially make legal services more affordable.
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services → allow → communities
The ABA faculty requirements criticized by Biggs are also facing scrutiny from the Justice Department, which has threatened an antitrust investigation over restrictions on adjunct professors teaching core law school courses.
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which → criticize → courses
In an Oct. 7 letter, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward gave the ABA 15 days to revise or justify its rules, arguing that the requirements restrict competition and contribute to higher tuition costs, The Wall Street Journal reported.
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Journal → give → costs
The emergence of alternative accreditation pathways could offer aspiring lawyers new opportunities, but also introduce complications for graduates hoping to practice in states other than where they attended law school.
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they → offer → school
While the federal government determines which accrediting agencies it recognizes for federal purposes, state supreme courts generally set their own bar-admission requirements.
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courts → determine → requirements
Many states currently require graduation from an ABA-accredited law school, a requirement that would not automatically disappear if the ABA loses its federal recognition.
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ABA → require → recognition
That means graduates of schools approved through alternative state-level processes, such as the one UATX hopes to pursue in Texas, could qualify for the bar in their home state but face additional hurdles elsewhere.
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UATX → mean → hurdles
Biggs predicted that as more states adopt alternative pathways, others could face pressure to reconsider their requirements.
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others → predict → requirements
"Eventually there's gonna be a very large group of states that are not ABA or nothing," Biggs said, predicting that states such as New York and Illinois would eventually have to confront the issue.
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states → be → issue
"They're gonna have to come to the table and try to figure out how portability is gonna work."
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portability → go → table
Several states have already begun loosening the ABA's longstanding hold over legal education.
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states → begin → education
In January, Texas became the first state to end its exclusive reliance on ABA accreditation for bar eligibility, with the state Supreme Court assuming authority to approve qualifying law schools.
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Court → become → schools
Florida followed nine days later, adopting its own approach to recognizing law schools outside the traditional ABA system.
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Florida → follow → system
The movement has since extended to other states.
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movement → extend → states
Ohio's Supreme Court proposed changes in May to establish a state-run law school approval process, while courts in Tennessee, Alabama and Washington have also taken steps toward reducing their reliance on the ABA, as Fox News Digital previously reported.
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Digital → propose → ABA
Biggs explained that most law schools are affiliated with larger universities that maintain their own institutional accreditation, allowing students to access federal aid without relying exclusively on the ABA's recognition.
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students → explain → recognition
"So unless you are a freestanding law school that only relies on the ABA, your students are gonna be fine," Biggs said.
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Biggs → rely → ABA
Sarah Parshall Perry, attorney and vice president of nonprofit Defending Education, similarly told Fox News Digital that the more immediate federal-aid concerns would fall on standalone law schools that rely on the ABA's federal recognition rather than a parent university's institutional accreditation.
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that → tell → recognition
Perry estimated that roughly 15 standalone law schools could potentially face federal funding complications if the ABA loses its recognition.
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ABA → estimate → recognition
Beyond the immediate financial implications, Perry argued that loosening the ABA's grip on legal education could bring more fundamental changes to what law schools teach and how they prepare students for the profession.
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they → argue → profession
"These law students are actually going to get a better education," Perry argued.
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Perry → go → education
"Because we get the ABA meddling away from curricular inclusions, and we get them away from race mandates in admissions and in hiring and promotions, we get back to ground zero on making excellent lawyers.
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we → get → lawyers
"
"I don't care what color my attorney is if I get in a car crash.
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I → care → crash
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
