FTC Blames High Law School Costs On ABA Accreditation - Above the Law

"There are many reasons that law schools cost a shit ton of money to attend. Books are expensive and inflation plays a role, but the largest contributing factors are a combination of easy money in the form of federal loans for grad school and high overhead - like paying professors six figures to teach from those pricey books we mentioned earlier."

"The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday called the American Bar Association's accreditation of law schools a "monopoly" that increases the cost of a law degree and limits the supply of new lawyers....The FTC said the organization requires law schools to "conform to controversial ideological views prevalent among the legal elitists." It cited the ABA's diversity and inclusion rule for schools, which requires law schools to demonstrate their commitment to diversity in recruitment, admissions and programming. The rule has been suspended since February, and the ABA has proposed eliminating it altogether."

"First, let's get in to the FTC's cost increasing monopoly designation. Is it a monopoly? I mean yeah - it is the only recognized law school accreditation hander-outer, but merely being a monopoly doesn't justify antitrust intervention. Some monopolies, natural ones for example, are so good at doing what they do that their normal function is actually beneficial to consumer interests."

Law school expenses reflect multiple causes: expensive books, inflation, abundant federal graduate loans, and high institutional overhead including large faculty salaries. The FTC labeled the ABA's role as law-school accreditor a monopoly that raises costs and constrains the number of new lawyers. The FTC also argued that accreditation requirements enforce ideological conformity through a diversity and inclusion rule that is currently suspended and proposed for elimination. Being the sole recognized accreditor does not automatically justify antitrust action because some monopolies perform beneficial regulatory functions. The Department of Education treats ABA accreditation as the national standard and ties loan eligibility to it, which helps signal program quality and protect investment decisions.

Read at Above the Law