2 Law Schools Win ABA Accreditation

The Charleston School of Law has won provisional accreditation from the American Bar Association on schedule, two years after it enrolled its first class.

The ABA's accreditation means that students who receive their J.D.s from Charleston this spring will be able to take the bar exam and practice law. Charleston Law students are also now able to apply for federal student aid. Full accreditation will be determined in part on how well Charleston's first graduating classes do on the bar exam.

Meanwhile, the Barry University School of Law, based in Orlando, Florida, has won full ABA accreditation four years after receiving provisional accreditation. The school originally opened as an independent law school in 1995 and was bought by Barry University, a private university affiliated with a Roman Catholic religious order, in 1999. Barry's move from provisional to full ABA accreditation was based on criteria including admissions standards, admitted students' LSAT scores, and bar exam passage rates.

Sources:

"Barry University Law School Earns Full Accreditation," AP (Orlando, FL), December 4, 2006

"Charleston Law School Gains Accreditation," The State (Charleston, SC), December 4, 2006