United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2007-03-08 monographic deposited born digital 36 p. GA 1.13:GAO-07-314 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-314 P0b002ee18038ea47 f:d07314 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-314 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-314 GAO-07-314 Educational standards Higher education Institution accreditation Law schools Legal education Other Written Product A66667 In order to participate in certain federal programs, such as federal student financial aid, postsecondary institutions must be accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the Department of Education (Education). Accreditation ensures that schools provide basic levels of quality in their educational programs, and Education recognizes those agencies it concludes can reliably determine the quality of education provided by the schools and programs they accredit. Since 1952, Education has recognized the American Bar Association (ABA) as an accrediting agency for law schools. ABA accreditation is important to the 195 law schools it accredits because it allows their graduates the flexibility to take the Bar exam in any jurisdiction in the United States. The Department of Education requires that all recognized accrediting agencies periodically reapply for continued recognition. The Secretary of Education's accreditation advisory group, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), considered the ABA's most recent application for continued recognition in December 2006. The ABA was originally scheduled for review in December 2005, but Education postponed it twice based on the large volume of public comments that had to be reviewed, as well as concerns about the ABA's diversity standard. To address Congressional interest in these issues, we answered the following questions: (1) What is Education's process for recognizing accrediting agencies? (2) What is ABA's process for accrediting law schools? (3) What concerns have been raised about the ABA's accreditation process? https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-314/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-314.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-314/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-314.pdf GAO-07-314 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-314 Other Written Product GAO-07-314; Higher Education: Issues Related to Law School Accreditation; Educational standards Higher education Institution accreditation Law schools Legal education