Trump Executive Order Targets College (And Law School) Accreditors (Including ABA), Blames DEI For Low Standards And Poor Student Outcomes

Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education:

The American Bar Association’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar (Council), which is the sole federally recognized accreditor for Juris Doctor programs, has required law schools to “demonstrate by concrete action a commitment to diversity and inclusion” including by “commit[ting] to having a student body [and faculty] that is diverse with respect to gender, race, and ethnicity.”  As the Attorney General has concluded and informed the Council, the discriminatory requirement blatantly violates the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181 (2023).  Though the Council subsequently suspended its enforcement while it considers proposed revisions, this standard and similar unlawful mandates must be permanently eradicated.

• Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Reforms Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education
• Secretary of Education Statements on President Trump’s Education Executive Orders

• Canadian Lawyer, Trump Threatens to Revoke American Bar Association's Law School Accreditor Status
• Reuters, Trump Executive Order Says ABA's Role as Law School Accreditor May Be Revoked

• Canadian Lawyer, Trump Threatens to Revoke American Bar Association's Law School Accreditor Status
• Reuters, Trump Executive Order Says ABA's Role as Law School Accreditor May Be Revoked
• Chronicle of Higher Education, Trump’s Executive Order Bashes Accreditors, Blames DEI for Low Standards and Poor Outcomes
• Inside Higher Ed, Trump’s Latest Executive Orders Target Accreditation, Foreign Gifts
• New York Times, Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting College Accreditors
• Wall Street Journal, Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting University Accreditors

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