How Diversity Is Lingering Over The LSAT And U.S. News Law School Rankings

How Diversity Is Lingering Over the LSAT and U.S. News & World Report Rankings, Nat'l Jurist, Winter 2023, at 4:

An ABA committee has recommended that standardized tests — most notably the LSAT — be optional for law school admission. Critics say schools place too much emphasis on it, and Black and Hispanic test-takers don’t perform as well on it as their white counterparts. ...

At the same time, a number of the nation’s most prestigious law schools are opting out of the much-hyped U.S. News & World Report rankings, blasting the assessment for a host of wrongs. Some say schools are boosting their positions in the rankings by admitting top students at the expense of those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Love ’em or hate ’em, the ranking affects both school and student behavior. ...

What’s caused such upheaval in such a short time?

Some say law schools are preparing for the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down — or seriously weaken — the ability of schools to use affirmative action practices in their admissions decisions. If that happens, schools will need to pivot and not be as dependent on such concrete metrics as the LSAT. If they continue the current course, it could gut diversity. The high court, which heard arguments last October, is expected to rule in June.

Aaron Taylor, executive director of AccessLex Institute Center for Legal Education Excellence, said the end of traditional affirmative action practices could lead to law schools becoming more dynamic in their admissions policies. ...

If schools continue to push for diversity — and implement new, outside-the-box methods to achieve it — they don’t want to be punished. Hence the rebellion against U.S. News, some argue. ...

That’s what The Wall Street Journal argued in a recent editorial after Yale Law became the first school to drop out of the U.S. News rankings: “This sounds like a cover for a desire by Yale to be free to admit students with lower test scores and service to diversity but without taking a hit to its exclusive reputation.” ...

Anthony Varona, now dean of Seattle University School of Law, ... authored a paper titled “Diversity and Disgrace: How the U.S. News Law School Rankings Hurt Everyone.” He wrote: “The sad truth is that the U.S. News law school rankings have hurt, and not helped, American law students, the legal profession and, thus, society as a whole. The U.S. News rankings have resulted in the denial of a quality legal education to minority law school applicants with great promise and drive but modest, rankings-unfriendly credentials.” ...

However, not everyone is on board with abandoning the test requirement. Sixty deans wrote in opposition, saying the proposal could actually hurt diversity efforts. They wrote: “Without the LSAT as a factor, law schools may be less willing to take a chance on students who do not perform well on GPA or other metrics because they worked to put themselves through school, had to care for family, or other reasons, but would enhance the diversity of our institutions and ultimately the profession.”

Another concern is that without the LSAT as a predictor of law school success, schools may accept students who don’t have the chops for the grueling academic experience and, just as important, the bar.

The ABA House of Delegates will vote on the standardized testing proposal in February. If approved, it will go into effect in 2025.