LSAC Rescinds Threat (For One Year) To Stop Certifying Matriculant Admissions Data In Response To Law Schools' Use Of GRE

Following up on my previous post, the LSAC has backed off its threat, for one year, to stop certifying matriculant data in response to the use of the GRE rather than the LSAT in law school admissions:

At the beginning of August, we wrote to you to explain that as a result of uncertainty surrounding the use of alternative admissions tests and concern that LSAT score-certification would no longer present an accurate and complete picture of law school matriculants, the LSAC Board had authorized the suspension of the score certification service. At that time, we asked for your input and the input of your deans, and although there was some variation in responses, much of the input conveyed disappointment at the suspension of the service and support for continuation of the service without interruption.

We also approached the leadership of the Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar to try to resolve the uncertainty that had led to our Board’s decision. A conversation with the Section leadership has given us a reasonably high level of confidence that the Council will resolve the uncertainty at its December meeting. Based on this understanding, the LSAC Board has agreed to continue the LSAT score certification service for the class that entered in 2016. Should the ABA fail to resolve the uncertainty by the time it is necessary to certify scores for the 2017 entering class, the Board would likely suspend the service at that time.

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• Is Wake Forest Law School's Offer To Pay Students To Take The GRE A U.S. News Rankings Ploy? (Jan. 30, 2016)
• Christine Hurt (BYU), Could The GRE Replace The LSAT? (Feb. 6, 2016)
• Arizona Is First Law School To Admit Students Based On GRE Instead Of LSAT (Feb. 11, 2016)
• WSJ: Law Schools Replace LSAT With GRE To Goose Enrollment (Feb. 23, 2016)
• The First Two Law Schools to Drop the LSAT Could Be Just the Beginning (Feb. 25, 2016)
• The Empire Strikes Back: LSAC Threatens To Expel University Of Arizona Over Use Of GRE In Law School Admissions (May 1, 2016)
• 148 Deans Demand LSAC Rescind Threat To Expel University Of Arizona Over Use Of GRE In Law School Admissions (May 5, 2016)
• The Antitrust Implications Of LSAC's Threatened Expulsion Of University Of Arizona Over Use Of GRE In Law School Admissions (May 8, 2016)
• LSAC Backs Down (For Now) On Threat To Expel University Of Arizona For Use Of GRE In Law School Admissions (May 9, 2016)
• Poll: Majority Of Law Schools Are Not Racing To Follow Arizona In Replacing LSAT With GRE (June 6, 2016)
• Taylor: The GRE Is No Law School Diversity Tool (June 16, 2016)
• University Of Arizona Is 'Preying On Low-Information Prospective Law Students' (June 21, 2016)
• 75% Of Law School Deans Support Arizona's Use Of GRE As Substitute For LSAT, Not Its Use Of 'Misleading Employment Stats' (June 23, 2016)
• The Empire Strikes Back, Part II: LSAC Stops Certifying Matriculant Admissions Data In Response To Law Schools' Use Of GRE (Aug. 4, 2016)