TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Feb 6, 2023

An effort to end the American Bar Association's longstanding requirement that law schools use the LSAT or other standardized test in admissions has failed for a second time in six years, Reuters reports. The ABA House of Delegates rejected the change to its accreditation standards today after more than an hour of debate. The proposal to allow law schools to go "test optional" in 2025 has divided law schools and the ABA itself, with law student diversity emerging as the primary point of contention. Those supporting the change argued that the LSAT is a barrier for minority test takers because on average they score below white test takers and because law schools rely too heavily on those scores. Those opposing the change warned that eliminating the requirement would make admissions offices more dependent on subjective measures such as the prestige of an applicant’s college, which could disadvantage minority applicants.