ABA Closes In on Axing Diversity Standard

Under pressure from the Trump administration, the nation’s sole law school accrediting body is close to finalizing the elimination of its diversity standard. 

On Friday, Reuters reported that the American Bar Association’s Council of the ⁠Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar voted to strike standard 206, which requires law schools to show “a commitment to diversity and inclusion” by having faculty, staff and student bodies that are “diverse with respect to gender, race, and ethnicity.”

However, elimination of the standard won’t become final until the ABA’s House of Delegates considers it—which could happen as early as August—and debates revisions. That means the rule likely won’t officially be removed until 2027. 

“Even though I personally agree with [the diversity standard] and what it tries to achieve, I think it’s appropriate as an ​accrediting body that we eliminate that standard so we don’t inhibit the diversity of ideas out there in ​various types of legal education environments,” said David Brennen, a council member and a former dean ⁠of the University of Kentucky College of Law, according to Reuters.

The ABA first suspended the rule in February 2025 amid the Trump administration’s moves to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across higher education. In April 2025, Trump issued an executive order calling for the termination or suspension of any accreditor engaged “in unlawful discrimination in accreditation-related activity under the guise of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ initiatives,” and specifically directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to investigate the ABA’s accrediting arm.