Accreditation hub · reference
The Council of the ABA's Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar accredits J.D. programs under the Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools — currently the 2026–2027 edition (changes approved through August 2026). Below are the standards that carry the most weight in a review cycle — what each asks for, the interpretations and revision status that matter, and the evidence a site team expects. The Core Principles Review is revising standards on a rolling basis, so verify current text at americanbar.org before relying on any entry here.
Supports documentation — never declares compliance. This page helps a school organize what it can show a reviewer. It never states or implies that a program is compliant or noncompliant. Only the ABA Council makes approval determinations.
Our read: site evaluation teams spend the most time where the school's story about itself meets its paper trail. The schools that struggle are rarely the ones with weak programs — they're the ones whose strong programs are undocumented. Write every self-study sentence as if the next sentence is a reviewer asking “show me.”
Standards titles and revision status as published by the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar (2026-2027 Standards and Rules of Procedure, PDF). Plain-language explanations and evidence mappings are our own synthesis — labeled as such — and should not be cited in official documents.