US Department of Education recommends removing the ABA Legal Ed council’s accrediting powers

US Department of Education recommends removing the ABA Legal Ed council's accrediting powers The U.S. Department of Education is recommending that the council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar’s powers to accredit law school not be renewed. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that it had obtained an advanced copy of a memorandum from the Department of Education. According to the paper, the 500-page report asserts that the council isn’t sufficiently independent of the profession to ensure that it focuses on education quality. “We have said many times that accreditation, in general, operates like a cartel,” said David Barker, an assistant secretary for the Education Department, to the Wall Street Journal. “When there’s no competition, accreditors feel free to inject their own political preferences, their own ideologies into the work that they do.” The 500-page report was leaked to the newspaper a month before the council, the sole national accreditor for law schools, faces a five-year review of its accreditation status by the Education Department. Daniel Thies, the immediate past chair of the council, is scheduled to sit before the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, or the NACIQI, on Sept. 23 and 24. “Although it is difficult to comment on a recommendation we haven’t yet received, we look forward to the opportunity to address any misconceptions and clarify the record at our upcoming hearing before the NACIQI committee next month,” Melissa Clark, the chair of the council, said in a statement to the ABA Journal. “The council is confident it complies with the Higher Education Act and with the department’s requirements for accreditors.” She noted that the initial recommendation from the department is only one step in the regular review process. “We’re confident the council will address any concerns the department may have at that hearing,” she wrote. “The outcomes produced by council-accredited law schools are unmatched, and we continue the important work of accrediting law schools as our recognition process proceeds.” Law schools need accreditation by a nationally recognized body for their students to receive financial aid, and most states require bar candidates to have graduated from an ABA-accredited school. The council is an independent arm of the ABA, the target of criticism from the Trump administration on a host of issues. There are 198 ABA-accredited law schools. Should the council lose its powers, independent law schools, unable to lean on a host university’s accreditation by other organizations, would be most impacted, forcing them to become accredited by regional groups. In its second term, the Trump administration has escalated its feud with the ABA overall. In April 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Linda McMahon, the secretary of the Education Department, to assess whether to suspend or terminate the council as the government’s official law school accreditor, citing its “unlawful ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ requirements” as part of an executive order focused on reforming higher education accreditation. Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.