Overview of ABA-Approved Law Schools

There are over 200 law schools approved by the American Bar Association (including the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's School, which is not profiled here). The ABA is the largest organization of lawyers in the world, and its members come from every state in the United States. Because the ABA is a voluntary bar association, its members are not required to join in order to practice law, although nearly 40 percent of all American lawyers are currently members.


The power to grant individuals a license to practice law resides in the highest court of each state; thus, every jurisdiction administers its own bar examination, character and fitness inquiry, and licensing procedures for admission to the bar. The states also administer the disciplinary process for sanctioning lawyers who violate ethics rules of professional conduct. Because each state adopts its own rules establishing who is eligible to take the bar examination, some states require all candidates to be graduates of ABA-approved law schools, while others do not.

Authority to approve the right of educational institutions to grant degrees has been delegated by Congress to the U.S. Department of Education, which in turn delegates the responsibility for approving degree programs to designated accrediting agencies. In the case of law schools, the agency that has been given this power is the American Bar Association. Within the ABA, accreditation matters are handled by the Accreditation Committee of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar with the support of a Consultant on Legal Education. The standards of approval themselves are promulgated by the ABA's governing body, the House of Delegates, upon recommendation of the Section of Legal Education. The Accreditation Committee is charged with the inspection and evaluation of law schools and law school programs, not only when a school or program is started, but also periodically during the life of the institution. The purpose of the accreditation process is to assure that every law school in the United States meets a common set of quality standards, and that every degree awarded confers the same benefit on recipients as comparable degrees at other ABA-approved law schools.

The imprimatur of the ABA carries great weight with state bar admission authorities, and every state allows graduates of any ABA law school to sit for the bar exam. From an applicant's standpoint, graduating from an ABA- approved law school is like a stamp of approval, a ticket to seek admission to practice law anywhere in the country. From the point of view of a law student, ABA approval is a guarantee that certain basic educational requirements have been met, and that the education they receive will be comparable to the education at any other ABA-approved law school. Additional information on the accreditation process and law schools generally may be obtained by writing to the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

This does not mean that law schools are all the same. Law schools come in many shapes and sizes. Some are more difficult to get into than others. Some offer special programs that set them apart from other schools. Some serve special audiences that others do not. Some are rated more highly than others. ABA does not attempt to rank law schools. The ABA certifies that approved schools meet minimum standards, but encourages them to seek to exceed those standards. Barron's provides a wealth of information to help applicants make the difficult decision about which law school is best for them. Implicit in this approach is the notion that different schools are right for different people, and that no single school is best for everyone.

The ranking of law schools by some publications may provide interesting reading, and may reflect the relative prestige of law schools as filtered through the eyes of the publication's editors, but the uncritical use of such rankings without looking at the facts and figures behind them can distort the process of selecting a law school. The real question should be: What are the top ten schools for you personally? The question is not: What are the top ten schools for some faceless editor at some magazine or publishing house?

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During 1995 and into 1996, the American Bar Association conducted a thorough review of the standards for approval of law school. A revised set of standards was adopted by the ABA House of Delegates in August, 1996. The impetus for this review came in part from criticism of the standards both inside and outside the ABA, as well as recognition by leaders in the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar that legal education is changing, particularly in the area of skills education, such as teaching students the practice skills they will need to be successful practitioners, not just the legal theory and analysis characteristic of traditional legal education. These changes to the standards will eventually be integrated into the fabric of the law schools that seek ABA accreditation or re-accreditation.

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