Jessica Blake
August 21, 2026
The Trump administration accused the accreditor of violating federal requirements in nearly 30 ways.
The Trump administration is trying to strip the American Bar Association’s accreditation council of federal recognition—a move that could disrupt legal education more broadly.
The ABA currently stands as the nation’s leading law school accreditor and the only one that is federally recognized; it oversees nearly 200 colleges across the country. In many states, a law school’s graduates cannot qualify for the state license needed to practice law unless they are authorized by a federally recognized legal accreditor and/or the ABA specifically. That means denying recognition to the ABA could hinder students’ ability to obtain a license.
The Education Department accused the bar association and its accreditation council—the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar—of violating federal regulations in nearly 30 ways, according to an 86-page report released Friday that outlines the agency’s findings and recommends revoking recognition.