Federal advisory panel dodges decision on ABA’s accreditation arm

A federal advisory panel failed to reach a decision on whether to recommend that the American Bar Association’s accreditation arm lose federal recognition.

Just a month before NACIQI’s meeting, the Education Department issued a staff report recommending ending federal recognition for the accreditation council.

Losing federal recognition would mean the ABA could no longer act as a gatekeeper to federal student aid.

Concerns about the accreditation council’s independence Much of Wednesday’s meeting focused on whether the ABA’s accreditation council was sufficiently independent from its professional organization.

However, the ABA’s accreditation council can move forward with its desired changes anyway.