Grassley Asks About Potential Bait and Switch of Students at ABA-Accredited Law Schools and Subsequent Risk for Taxpayers
Press Release
Working to make sure law students who take out taxpayer-backed student loans are in a position to pay back loans and to help prevent an increase in default rates, Senator Chuck Grassley is asking the American Bar Association about the quality of its accreditation of the nation's law schools.
"The ABA has tremendous power with its authority to accredit law schools in the United States," Grassley said. "Concerns about the ABA's performance have been raised by important watchdogs over this process, such as the Department of Education's accreditation experts, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. I'm asking the ABA to account for its work on behalf of both law students and taxpayers."
In a letter of inquiry to the President of the ABA, Stephen N. Zack, Grassley cited a June article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that reported the ABA was "out of compliance with 17 regulations [of the Advisory Committee], including the need to consider student-loan default rates in assessing programs." Grassley also referred to an April article in The New York Times about ABA-accredited law schools offering "more scholarships than [they] plan to renew[.]"
"The number of students attending law school and the amount they borrow is increasing while their ability to secure jobs and pay back the loans is decreasing as jobs disappear," Grassley wrote in a letter sent today. "The result is that millions of federally guaranteed taxpayer dollars are being borrowed at the great risk that many students may not be able to pay off their loans."
In addition to looking out for taxpayers, Grassley said his oversight of the law-school accreditation process is related to his position of Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the health of the legal profession.
Grassley is seeking a complete response from the ABA President to a number of detailed questions about the ways in which the ABA assesses eligibility for accreditation.
Source