Law School Admissions

Title

A Way Forward: Transparency in 2018

Document Type

Issue/Research Brief/Blog

Publication Date

1-2018

Keywords

student financial aid, law school diversity, race and ethnicity, gender

Abstract

We recommend that the ABA and law schools take the following steps to improve legal education for the benefit of students, the legal profession, and the public.

Young Lawyer Representation in Accreditation

  • The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar should add two young lawyers to its Council in 2018.
  • The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar should change its bylaws to designate two of 15 at-large Council positions to young lawyers.

Increased Data Transparency

  • The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, using authority it already has under the ABA Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools, should require schools to report as part of the Section’s annual questionnaire, and for the Section and schools to provide on their websites, (1) disaggregated borrowing data, including subcategories by race and gender; (2) disaggregated data on the amount of tuition paid by class year (1L or upper-level), race/ethnicity, and gender; (3) data on applicants and scholarships by gender and, to the extent the Section does not do so already, by race/ethnicity; (4) data on J.D. program completion and bar passage success.

User-Friendly Data Presentation

  • The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar should simplify the Employment Summary Report, which includes graduate employment data.
  • The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar should simplify and reorganize the Standard 509 Information Report, which includes data related to admissions, attrition, bar passage, price, curricular offerings, diversity, faculty, refunds, and scholarships.

Disclosures at Time of Admission

  • The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar should require law schools to provide every admitted law student a copy of the Standard 509 Information Report and Employment Summary Report as part of each student’s admissions offer.

Voluntary Disclosures by Law School

  • Every ABA-approved law school should voluntarily publish its school-specific NALP Report each year.

Link to Full Text
COinS