ABA council votes to repeal Standard 206 diversity rule for law schools

The American Bar Association has taken a major step toward permanently eliminating a key accreditation rule that required law schools to demonstrate a commitment to diversity and inclusion. The ABA's Accreditation Council voted on May 15 to repeal Standard 206, a move that signals a significant shift for the organization that has long set the standards for legal education in the United States.

The rule, which had been suspended since February 2025, mandated that law schools show by concrete action a commitment to diversity and inclusion in admissions, hiring, and student body composition, with specific reference to gender, race, and ethnicity. The council's vote is not the final step; the proposal will now go to the ABA's House of Delegates for debate at its annual meeting in August. A final decision could take until 2027.

The push for repeal follows sustained pressure from the federal government and actions by several states. After the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which struck down race-conscious college admissions, the Trump administration escalated scrutiny of diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. In April 2025, an executive...