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The ABA’s accreditation framework influences curriculum quality through measurable factors and enforcement actions against low bar-passage rates. The text contrasts ranked and unranked schools and explains how criticism targets rankings for omitting diversity, clinical opportunities, specialty strength, and student satisfaction. It also reports enrollment and application trends, including declining attendance and debates over admissions standards.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":20,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/appendix-a-the-law-school-experience-admission-to-law-school/321842/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/appendix-a-the-law-school-experience-admission-to-law-school/321842.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Jasmine","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why do states require graduation from law school for bar admission today?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"State bar rules increasingly introduced educational requirements, and now—except a few states that permit “read the law” with a mentor—graduation from law school is required.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does ABA accreditation affect American law school curriculum and operations?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"ABA accreditation uses factors such as facilities, faculty quality, curriculum, admissions policies, and bar-passage outcomes, allowing the ABA to strongly influence the character and content of legal education.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What criticisms are raised about U.S. News law school rankings?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Critics argue rankings may not guide students effectively because they omit factors like diversity, availability of clinical programs, specialty strength, and student satisfaction, and because career goals may be better served at lower-ranked schools.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},321842,1790956221,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":19,"category_name":20,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},2336478487870,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","~~  ~~nn~~ ~~A~~ ~~PPE~~ ~~N~~ ~~D~~ ~~IX~~ ~~A~~  ~~  \nTHE LAW SCHOOL EXPERIENCE  \n􀂄 ADMISSION TO LAW SCHOOL  \nWe have seen that although initially there were few requirements for taking the bar examination, educational requirements gradually were introduced. Today, with the exception of those few states permitting applicants to “read the law” with a mentor, state bars require applicants to have graduated from law school. The course of study at law schools was gradually extended and today involves a three-year course of study. As late as 1935, only nine states required a law degree to take the bar. Today, this is a requisite for taking the bar in forty-seven states. In 1949, only 62 percent of practicing lawyers held law degrees; in 1970, 93 percent had law degrees (I. L. Horowitz 2005: 564–566) .  \nThere are roughly two hundred and five American Bar Association (ABA)–accredited law schools in the United States. Three of these schools have received provisional acceptance, which means that they are making progress toward accreditation. California is one of the states providing state accreditation to schools that are not certified by the ABA. Various states, in turn, allow graduates ofthe California bar exam to take their bar examination. ABA accreditation is based on a list offactors, including library facilities, faculty-to-student ratio, faculty quality, curriculum, the quality of the facilities, admissions policies, and the passage rate on the bar exam. The significant point is that the ABA is able to dictate the character of American law schools and the content of the curriculum. It takes several years for a newly established law school to meet the requirements for accreditation. The ABA for the first time has threatened to remove accreditation from schools with low rates of passage on the bar exam. Critics complain that the “stranglehold” of the ABA over legal education prevents innovative approaches to legal education (ABA Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar n.d.) .  \nIt is important to distinguish between types of law schools. Everyone is familiar with the rankings published by U.S. News & World Report, which ranks the top hundred law schools. The other schools are not ranked and are listed in alphabetical order. These rankings are based on objective factors such as student scores on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) faculty resources and placement along with how lawyers and judges perceive the quality of the school.  \nCritics complain the rankings may not be a good guide for students because they do not include factors like diversity, the availability of clinical programs, the strength of a school’s program in various specialty areas, or student satisfaction. More important is the fact a student’s career aspirations may be well served at a lower-ranked institution. Highly ranked national law schools  \nAppendix A: The Law School Experience  \ntend to place students in large prestigious firms across the country, and “local” law schools generally produce lawyers who staff local government and who serve the needs of the local community. Students who want to practice in a local area may find that by attending a local law school and interning with a government agency, small firm, or corporation, they are more attractive to an employer than are graduates of a national law school.  \nU.S. News & World Report has addressed criticisms ofthe overall ranking by rating law schools based on specializations, including clinical programs, environmental law, intellectual property, international law, and legal writing and by developing a diversity scorecard. A school that is not highly ranked may be rated among the best schools in a particular area.  \nThe ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar compiles fairly accurate statistics on law schools. At last count, there were 110,951 law students in the United States, roughly 52 percent of whom are male and 48 percent of whom are women. Projected enrollment t","cbCaiaV13riC9Xrs","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiaV13riC9Xrs","pdf",159467,14,"English","# Admission to Law School\n## ABA accreditation and requirements\n## Law school rankings and criticisms\n## Enrollment, applicants, and LSAT debates\n## Cost of law school","[{\"question\":\"Why do states require graduation from law school for bar admission today?\",\"answer\":\"State bar rules increasingly introduced educational requirements, and now—except a few states that permit “read the law” with a mentor—graduation from law school is required.\"},{\"question\":\"How does ABA accreditation affect American law school curriculum and operations?\",\"answer\":\"ABA accreditation uses factors such as facilities, faculty quality, curriculum, admissions policies, and bar-passage outcomes, allowing the ABA to strongly influence the character and content of legal education.\"},{\"question\":\"What criticisms are raised about U.S. News law school rankings?\",\"answer\":\"Critics argue rankings may not guide students effectively because they omit factors like diversity, availability of clinical programs, specialty strength, and student satisfaction, and because career goals may be better served at lower-ranked schools.\"}]","Appendix A - The Law School Experience - Admission to Law School | PDF",1789960394,35]