Law students can take 50% of classes online, with ABA rule change
Signage is seen outside of the American Bar Association (ABA) in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly Purchase Licensing Rights
May 12 (Reuters) - Law students may now take up to half their classes online.
The arm of the American Bar Association that accredits law schools on Friday voted to increase its limit on distance education courses from one-third of a student’s total credits to half. It also eliminated the rule that students take no more than 10 credit hours of distance education classes during their first year of law school.
Those changes bring the law school accreditation standards in line with distance education limits set by the U.S. Department of Education — which has tasked the ABA with overseeing law schools — and will reduce the number of law schools applying to the ABA for special approval to offer distance education programs that exceed the one-third credit limit.
The rule change will also allow law schools to bolster their online course offerings, according to a memo prepared for the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.
Distance education classes are defined as courses in which students are separated from faculty for a third or more of the class. The ABA last increased its distance education limit in 2018, when it was raised from 15 credit hours to a third of credits, which is about 30 at most schools.
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted law schools to shift classes online and the ABA in 2020 temporarily relaxed its distance education limits.
In a 2022 survey of 1,400 law students by the ABA, 52% of respondents said they would choose a Zoom class where everyone is remote over one that is held in-person. And nearly 69% said they wanted the ability to earn more credits through distance education than the one-third allowed at that time.
The ABA council on Friday also reviewed its plans to bolster the demographic information it collects annually about new law students to include the highest level of education obtained by the person who raised them; whether they have a disability; their sexual orientation; and whether they are transgender, among other new categories.
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