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Texas plans to end American Bar Association's role in state's law school oversight, by Karen Sloan | Reuters | 9.29.2025
In a stunning development reflective of the top-down, authoritarian attempted takeover of U.S. higher education, the Texas Supreme Court announced on September 29, 2025, that it is “tentatively” poised to end the American Bar Association’s (ABA) long-standing role in accrediting law schools whose graduates may sit for the Texas Bar. If finalized, this would make Texas the first state to sever ties with the ABA—the nation’s federally recognized accreditor of legal education since 1952. The court says it seeks “simple, objective, and ideologically neutral criteria,” citing bar passage rates and flexibility for law schools, yet the move mirrors similar reviews in Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee, all led by Republican-appointed courts amid conservative backlash against the ABA’s diversity requirements and perceived “political engagement.”
Eight of Texas’ ten law deans have warned that abandoning ABA accreditation could destabilize legal education, limit lawyer mobility, and raise costs. As University of Houston Law Dean Leonard Baynes cautioned, the order “creates uncertainty for legal education in the backdrop of an already chaotic world of higher education.” Public comments are due by December 1, with changes expected January 1, 2026—an extraordinarily tight timeline for a shift that could redefine professional oversight and further politicize the governance of higher education in Texas.
Signage is seen outside of the American Bar Association (ABA) in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly Purchase Licensing Right
Texas is poised to end its reliance on the American Bar Association for law school oversight and instead let its highest court determine which schools’ graduates can be admitted as lawyers in the state.
The Supreme Court of Texas said in an orderon Friday that it “is of the tentative opinion that the ABA should no longer have the final say” on whether a law school’s alumni can sit for the Texas Bar or be licensed. The court itself would determine which law schools are “approved” under the state’s lawyer admissions rules, according to the preliminary order.
Texas is the first state to say it plans to end oversight of its law schools by the ABA — the federally recognized accreditor of U.S. law schools. The supreme courts of Florida, Ohio and Tennessee have launched similar reviews of their own ABA requirements in recent months.
A Texas Supreme Court spokesperson on Monday said the court would not comment beyond the order.
Jenn Rosato Perea, the ABA’s managing director of accreditation and legal education, said in a statement on Monday that the organization is currently “reviewing the implications” of the Texas court’s order.
“We look forward to continuing to work with Texas and other states to ensure that a national accreditation system exists that promotes quality, efficiency and flexibility while maintaining law degree portability across state lines, to the benefit of students, employers, law schools and the states themselves,” Perea said.
The Texas Supreme Court did not provide details on how any new law school approval system would function but asked the public to submit comments on the proposal by December 1, with anticipated changes taking effect January 1.
The court said it intends to preserve the ability of Texas law graduates to practice in other states and for out-of-state law graduates to practice in Texas. It said it does not want to “impose additional accreditation, compliance, or administrative burdens” on law schools, and that it aims to provide stability and flexibility to schools with a set of “simple, objective, and ideologically neutral criteria,” such as bar exam pass rates.
Eight of Texas’ 10 law deans warned in a July letter to the court that dropping the ABA requirement, which has been in place since 1983, would impede lawyer mobility and increase costs. University of Houston law dean Leonard Baynes told Reuters on Monday that he was pleased the court showed commitment to law degree portability and avoiding onerous requirements on law schools. But Baynes said the "order creates uncertainty for legal education in the backdrop of an already chaotic world of higher education."
The Texas Supreme Court did not offer specific reasons for launching its review of the ABA rule in April. The Florida Supreme Court, which had announced its own review weeks earlier, cited an ABA diversity mandate for law schools that has since been put on hold until August 2026 and the “ABA’s active political engagement” as reasons for its inquiry. Both high courts are fully comprised of Republican-appointed justices.
The workgroup reviewing Florida’s ABA requirement was due to issue its report on Tuesday, but the Supreme Court of Florida on Friday pushed backthat date to October 31.
,on Friday that it “is of the tentative opinion that the ABA should no longer have the final say” on whether a law school’s alumni can sit for the Texas Bar or be licensed. The court itself would determine which law schools are “approved” under the state’s lawy
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