ABA drops law school diversity rule as accreditation status hangs in balance
The American Bar Association’s council voted to eliminate Standard 206, the rule that required law schools to show a commitment to diversity, amid a federal review of its accrediting authority.
In a special virtual session, the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar voted to scrap Standard 206, the accreditation rule that forced law schools to demonstrate diversity in admissions, recruitment and programming. Council Chair Melissa Hart framed the decision as a practical measure to preserve the ABA’s federal recognition and acceptance by state courts, rather than a shift in values.
The U.S. Department of Education has recently signaled doubts about the council’s independence and will consider its accrediting status on September 23. The repeal follows a broader push by Republican officials, with Texas, Florida and Alabama already moving to curtail the ABA’s influence over lawyer licensing. The change ends a two-year effort to revise the rule after the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision barring race-based admissions, and reflects mounting political pressure on the organization’s DEI agenda.
Why it matters
The ABA’s loss of its diversity rule could reshape how law schools are evaluated and affect future accreditation decisions.
In this story
