1. Federal grants. Because few, if any, law schools receive substantial federal grants, this lever is not very effective against law schools—directly. But see item 5 below. …
4. Accreditation/bar admission/student loans. The federal Department of Education recognizes the American Bar Association as an accreditor for law schools. In addition, law schools which are a part of a university, as most are, also receive the benefit of the university’s accreditation. This could matter for purposes of student loans and bar admission. Federal student loans and grants are available only to students attending accredited institutions so a loss of accreditation could be devastating to schools that depend on students being able to finance their education through federal student loans, which is probably true of every law school. Students might still be able to obtain private student loans, though those can be more expensive and lack the income-based repayment options available for federal loans.
I’m not sure how much this matters to bar admission; if states concluded that the federal government had cancelled a law school’s accreditation for inappropriate reasons, I imagine they could change their rules to allow graduates of that school to be admitted. The federal budget bill as it stands at the moment would limit the amount of federal student loans available to students attending professional schools, which might also impact some students, and thus some schools.
5. Impact of being part of a broader university. Even if law schools are not directly affected by the loss of federal aid, etc. they might be indirectly affected if they are part of a broader university. Universities that depend heavily on federal grants, for example, and that lose those grants, or get lower reimbursement rates on those grants will have less resources. That may affect their budgetary arrangement with their law school. …
