Bad news for the Duncan School of Law at Lincoln Memorial University. They’ve received notice from the American Bar Association — the body responsible for law school accreditation — that their admissions standards are out of compliance with the organization’s standards. As reported by the ABA Journal, Duncan Law has specific problems with Standards 501(a) and (b), which require “sound admissions policies and practices,” designed to prevent schools from admitting candidates who are unlikely to finish law school or pass the bar exam.
The law school, which received provisional accreditation in 2014, had a nontransfer attrition percentage of 22.2 percent for 2017. A rate higher than 20 percent is considered out of compliance with Standard 501. Additionally, Duncan Law’s median LSAT score is 148, and the median undergraduate GPA is 3.08.
In a statement, Gary Wade, Duncan Law’s dean and vice president, indicated the school is improving on its attrition numbers:
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“Although our bar pass rates in prior years have met and exceeded the ABA standard, it is true that our attrition, which by the recent interpretation also includes students on a leave of absence, has been a source of concern. After the first semester this year, however, attrition, at 8 percent, would meet the standard. I do not anticipate there to be any substantial increase in that number in May,” he told the ABA Journal in an email.
Additionally, in order to meet the goals of the ABA Standards, the law school has a policy to refund tuition to students who are academically ineligible after their first semester if their admissions materials were in the bottom 25 percent of admitted students:
Also, Wade wrote that the law school has adopted a policy to refund tuition to students found to be academically ineligible after the first semester if their LSAT scores or GPAs are in the class’s 25th quartile of admitted students.
“Although it is impossible to always predict student success based upon entering credentials, this, I believe, addresses the justified goal of the Department of Education and the ABA to encourage schools only to admit those most qualified to meet the criteria for admission to the practice of law,” he wrote.
The law school will submit an accreditation report to the ABA by August 1 and they’ll appear before the accreditation committee in November.
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Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).