Law schools approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) provide a legal education which meets a minimum set of standards as promulgated by the ABA. The ABA Standards for Approval of Law Schools (Standards) are designed, developed, and implemented by the judiciary, practicing bar, and the professorate for the purpose of advancing the basic goal of providing a sound program of legal education. As a result, every jurisdiction in the United States has determined that graduates of ABA approved law schools are able to sit for the bar in their respective jurisdictions. Responsibility for administering the ABA’s accreditation process has been placed with the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, which is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the "nationally recognized accrediting agency for schools of law." The Consultant on Legal Education to the American Bar Association and his staff assist the Council in administering the accreditation process. The role that the ABA plays as the national accrediting body has enabled accreditation to become unified and national in scope rather than fragmented, with the potential for inconsistency, among the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and other territories.

Source: American Bar Association, The American Bar Association's Role in the Accreditation Process  © American Bar Association, 1997

• Nationally-Recognized Accrediting Agencies (U.S. Department of Education)
• Standards for Approval of Law Schools (ABA)
• Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools (ABA)
• Site Evaluation Information (ABA)
• Study Abroad Programs (ABA)
• Post-J.D. Programs (ABA)
• Distance Education Temporary Guidelines (ABA)
• The American Bar Association's Role in the Accreditation Process (ABA)
• ABA-Approved Law Schools

• Appalachian School of Law (provisional accreditation granted, February 2001)
• Barry University School of Law (provisional accreditation denied, February 2001)
• John Marshall Law School, Atlanta (appeal of 2000 accreditation denial withdrawn, January 2001)
• University of Nevada at Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law (provisionally approved, July 2000)
• Florida Coastal School of Law (provisionally approved, August 1999)
• Western State University College of Law (provisionally approved, September 1998)
• University of District of Columbia School of Law (provisionally approved, February 1998)
  

• ABA Site Evaluation Visits, 1999-2000

Cases considering the legality of the ABA accreditation process...

• Massachusetts School of Law at Andover v. American Bar Association
  • for background and follow-up information see, Massachusetts School of Law press releases

• United States v. American Bar Association

Print articles and other resources on ABA law school accreditation...

• George B. Shepard & William B. Shepard, "Scholarly Restraints: ABA Accreditation and Legal Education," 19 Cardozo Law Review 2091 (1998).