Would Higher Accreditation Rules Disenfranchise Minorities?

The ABA is considering a plan that would require 75 percent of a law school’s graduates to pass the bar exam within two years for the school to maintain accreditation. The plan is under consideration due to the decline in bar exam scores nationwide. But many law deans objected, writing in a statement that the proposal would “jeopardize the existence of traditionally minority law schools and ultimately erase the profession’s modest gains in diversity over the last several decades.” The National Black Law Students Association, which represents 6,000 students, expressed similar concerns. “Maintaining the accreditation of law schools with poor bar passage rates … is a counterproductive way to diversify the profession,” Ohio State University law professor Deborah Jones Merritt, a scholar of legal education, said. She added that most minority students attend law schools that appear to be above the 75 percent threshold. The proposal is expected to be taken up during ABA’s legal education council meeting in October.