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.
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Facts Only
* The U.S. Department of Education recommends against renewing the accrediting powers of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar’s council.
* A leaked 500-page memorandum asserts the council lacks sufficient independence from the legal profession to ensure education quality.
* David Barker, an assistant secretary for the Education Department, described accreditation in general as operating like a cartel.
* Daniel Thies, immediate past chair of the council, is scheduled to appear before the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) on September 23 and 24.
* Melissa Clark, current council chair, stated the council complies with the Higher Education Act and Department of Education requirements.
* There are 198 ABA-accredited law schools.
* National accreditation is required for students to receive financial aid.
* Most states require bar candidates to graduate from an ABA-accredited school.
* In April 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to assess the suspension or termination of the council.
* The executive order cites "unlawful 'diversity, equity and inclusion' requirements" as a basis for the assessment.
Executive Summary
The U.S. Department of Education is challenging the accreditation authority of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. A leaked internal memorandum suggests the council is too closely tied to the legal profession to remain objective and argues that the lack of competition in accreditation allows for the injection of political ideologies into educational standards. The administration specifically points to "diversity, equity and inclusion" requirements as a primary concern, leading to an executive order directing the Secretary of Education to evaluate whether the council's official status should be terminated.
The ABA council maintains that it adheres to all legal and departmental requirements, asserting that the outcomes of its accredited schools are unmatched. While the council views this as a standard part of a regular review process, the stakes are high: law schools require national accreditation for student financial aid, and most state bars require it for licensure. If the council loses its powers, independent law schools without broader university accreditation would likely be forced to seek regional accreditation.
Full Take
The strongest version of this narrative is a push for systemic transparency and competition. It argues that a "captured" regulator—where the industry being regulated also controls the accreditation—creates a monopoly that can prioritize ideological goals over educational quality, ultimately harming students and the public.
The narrative relies on a pattern of framing the accreditation process as a "cartel" to shift the debate from a technical regulatory review to a broader ideological battle over institutional control. By linking the technicality of accreditation to "diversity, equity and inclusion" (DEI) requirements, the conflict is moved from a discussion of educational metrics to a political conflict over cultural values.
Patterns detected: none
The root cause is a paradigm shift in how the executive branch views the "administrative state" and professional guilds. This echoes a historical pattern of challenging professional monopolies to decentralize power. However, the unstated assumption is that regional accreditation or competing national bodies would be equally effective at maintaining the standards required for state bar admissions.
The implications involve a significant shift in power. If accreditation is decentralized or shifted, the "gatekeeping" mechanism for the legal profession changes. While this could increase diversity in how law is taught, it creates immediate instability for independent law schools and potentially disrupts the financial aid pipeline for students.
Bridge Questions:
1. What specific metrics of "education quality" are being contested, and how would a competing accreditor measure them differently?
2. How would state bar associations respond if the sole national accreditor were replaced by a fragmented system of regional bodies?
3. Is the "independence" of the council a genuine structural flaw or a convenient pretext for a broader political objective?
Counterstrike Scan: An influence campaign would use this to signal a "war on elites" by framing the ABA as a decadent gatekeeper. The actual content reports on a specific executive order and a leaked memo, aligning with standard news reporting rather than a coordinated attack pattern.