Trump Education Department Moves to Strip ABA of Law-School Accreditation Power

The U.S. Department of Education has taken the first formal step toward ending the American Bar Association’s long-standing role as the sole federally recognized accreditor of the nation’s nearly 200 law schools, citing a lack of independence from the broader legal profession and the continued influence of diversity, equity and inclusion mandates.

On August 21, department staff released a detailed report recommending that the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar be denied renewal of its federal recognition when its current five-year term comes up for review. The report concluded the council is not “separate and independent” from the larger ABA as required under federal regulations, allowing the organization to operate in a manner resembling a cartel that injects political preferences and ideologies into accreditation standards.

Assistant Secretary of Education David Barker described the problem in blunt terms: when accreditors face no competition, they feel free to impose their own political and ideological views. The staff analysis also faulted the ABA for moving too slowly to revise rules that required law schools to demonstrate concrete commitments to diversity in admissions, faculty and programming—standards the Trump administration has labeled unlawful discrimination.

The action traces directly to an April 2025 executive order signed by President Trump directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to assess whether to suspend or terminate the ABA’s status as the government’s official law-school accreditor precisely because of those DEI requirements. The order formed part of a broader effort to reform higher-education accreditation and end practices the administration views as discriminatory under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

A bipartisan National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity is scheduled to review the staff recommendation at its September meetings. A senior department official will then issue a decision, which the ABA can appeal to Secretary McMahon. The full process is expected to take several months, and revocation is not automatic.

If the ABA loses federal recognition, the practical consequences would be significant. Law schools rely on that recognition to remain eligible for federal student-loan programs. In most states, graduation from an ABA-accredited school is also a prerequisite for sitting for the bar exam. University-affiliated law schools might shift to their institutional accreditors, while independent schools would need to seek alternative recognition.

ABA Council Chair Melissa Hart responded that the council complies with federal laws and Education Department requirements. She said the group looks forward to addressing “any misconceptions and clarifying the record” before the advisory committee and expressed confidence it can resolve the concerns. On the same day the department’s recommendation became public, the ABA council voted to further scale back remaining diversity-related standards and scheduled a special September 8 meeting to consider full repeal of a longstanding diversity commitment rule that had already been suspended.

The move escalates a sustained conflict between the Trump administration and the ABA, which Republicans have long criticized as a progressive gatekeeper over the legal profession. By challenging the organization’s monopoly on law-school accreditation, the Education Department is seeking to restore competition, limit ideological mandates, and return the focus of legal education oversight to educational quality and independence from partisan influence. The September advisory-committee hearing will mark the next public stage of a process that could reshape how American lawyers are trained and licensed.