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UNT Dallas Law School Gets Second Chance To Earn Accreditation

The outside of the University of North Texas System building in downtown Dallas. The building is occupied by the UNT Dallas College of Law, which is at risk of losing its accreditation.

The University of North Texas at Dallas' law school will get a second chance to earn the accreditation that would allow its graduates to practice law in the state, the school learned Wednesday. 

The decision, which is expected to be announced on the American Bar Association's website on Thursday, comes after a bar committee recommended in August that UNT Dallas not receive preliminary accreditation. That would have been devastating for the school, and meant that students who graduated from the two-year-old program wouldn't have been able to take the bar. 

Wednesday's decision remands the question of accreditation back to the committee. It doesn't quite save those students' careers, but it also doesn't put them in any more peril. It isn't immediately clear how long the re-review will take or which particular aspects will be reconsidered.

The school's first class is expected to graduate this spring.

In the meantime, UNT Dallas plans to apply to the Texas Supreme Court for an exception that would allow the school's first graduates to sit for the bar without a degree from an accredited institution. 

"The ABA’s decision simply says, ‘Let’s study the issue some more,'" said Royal Furgeson, dean of the law school. "Our plan is to be fully engaged in that study process and we look forward to continuing our work with the ABA."

In recommending against accreditation, the ABA raised questions about UNT Dallas' lenient admissions policies and long-term financial health. That angered the school's supporters, who said that UNT Dallas was trying to be a different type of law school. Since its inception, the school has proudly deemphasized LSAT scores in the admissions process, and has sought to train lawyers for public service jobs or to start firms that cater to lower- or middle-income clients. 

In a statement Wednesday, Furgeson struck a conciliatory tone. 

"Both organizations have the same goals – to incorporate the best teaching methods into legal education, to open access to all qualified applicants, to emphasize bar passage, and to enrich the legal profession with ethical, well-prepared and highly motivated new lawyers," he said. 

The Texas Tribune provided this story.

Matthew Watkins writes about higher education and the business of college sports for the Tribune. Previously, he has covered local government at The Dallas Morning News and The Eagle in Bryan-College Station. A Texas native, Matthew grew up in Austin and has lived in Houston, Dallas and Bryan. He earned his bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University in 2008.