Following Affirmative Action Ban, More Law Schools Explore Alternative Admissions

More law schools are adopting LSAT-alternative admissions programs to help broaden applicant pools and boost diversity.

Georgetown University Law Center and Washburn University School of Law recently gained ABA-approval to start admitting some students without considering the LSAT, Reuters reports. The ABA also granted permission to 14 additional law schools to admit students through the JD-Next program, an eight-week series of online legal courses ending with an exam. Currently, 47 schools of the 197 ABA-accredited US law schools are permitted to use JD-Next in admissions this year.

UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE LSAT

The LSAT has faced controversy in recent years among the legal world. LSAT supporters argue that eliminating the testing requirement would make admissions officers depend on more subjective application factors, such as the prestige of an applicant’s college. LSAT opposers say the exam hurts students of color. A 2019 study revealed that Black LSAT takers scored an average of 142, compared to 153 for White and Asian test-takers.

“Not only does relevant research reveal that the LSAT has larger racial disparities than other available admissions factors, but 1,800 undergraduate colleges have now had a positive two-year experience with test-optional (and test-free) admissions,” Jay Rosner, an admissions test expert, says in an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times. “Only a handful have reverted back to requiring the SAT or ACT.”

In 2022, the ABA moved to get rid of the LSAT requirement in law school admissions, only to pause the removal plan in 2023.

The council has stated that eliminating the LSAT requirement gives law schools more flexibility and innovation in admissions, but “it wants to be sensitive and responsive to the concerns raised by law school deans and other stakeholders,” said William Adams, the ABA’s managing director of accreditation and legal education.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION BAN

In June 2023, The Supreme Court ruled to ban affirmative action in admissions, which means colleges and universities cannot make admissions decisions based on race.

At Georgetown, admissions officers are currently planning to admit up to 10 students into its part-time evening program without standardized test scores. Instead, admissions officers are considering life and work experience or undergraduate GPA.

At Washburn, an alternative admissions program will grant guaranteed admission to the law school for Washburn University undergraduates with a minimum grade-point average of either 3.3 or 3.5. Applicants still need to take the LSAT for merit aid decisions, but the score won’t be considered in admissions decisions.

Sources: Reuters, Spivey Consulting, Los Angeles Times, FIU Law Review