The UNT Dallas law school program is in jeopardy of not receiving accreditation from the American Bar Association.
An advisory group with the association is recommending the law school not get accreditation. The association is concerned in part by the school enrolling students with low LSAT scores, which could place those students at risk of not passing the state bar exam.
"We didn't look just at the LSAT scores, but we looked at the background of the applicant students and thought their record showed they were a good risk to get the work done because they showed hard work, diligence, grit, resilience, and so forth," Dean Royal Furgeson explained.
Several UNT Dallas law school students are non-traditional – they’re older and have had other jobs. The law school opened in 2014 and it charges lower tuition compared to other Texas law schools.
Furgeson says the recommendation is not final. In October, the school will present to a bar association council its case for why it should be accredited.
About Accreditation
According to the Princeton Review, a law school graduate cannot take the bar exam without having attended a school accredited by the American Bar Association in most states.
Since passing the bar is a requirement for the practice of law almost everywhere, a degree from a school without ABA–accreditation is usually a ticket to nowhere.
The ABA stipulates a law school can apply for provisional approval after it’s been in operation for a year.
