UNT Dallas gets ABA accreditation after raising LSAT scores

[Harry]

The University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law received provisional accreditation from the American Bar Association on June 3, less than a year after it was denied such accreditation.

The approval comes at an opportune moment for the law school’s inaugural class.  The 74 graduates who participated in the first Juris Doctor hooding ceremony on May 20, will now be considered graduates of an ABA-accredited law school when their degrees are conferred later this month. Most importantly, those graduates will be eligible to sit for the July 2017 Texas Bar Exam. 

“Our goal has always been to equip graduates with practice-ready competencies and the practical knowledge to pass the Texas Bar Exam,” said Royal Furgeson, founding Dean and President of UNT Dallas College of Law.  “We now have a clear path to demonstrate that the innovative curriculum and the resources we’ve established will support exactly that kind of success.” 

The provisional accreditation is a big victory for the state school, but comes with some compromises. In August, the accreditation committee denied approval due to concerns with the school’s low admission standards and uncertain financial future.

UNT Dallas had deemphasized LSAT scores in the admissions process in an effort to attract a more diverse student body. But to get accreditation, it had raise its LSAT profile.

The law school elevated the 25th percentile LSAT score from 143 to 147 by requiring a supermajority of its admissions committee to approve admission for any students who scored less than 142 on the LSAT.

The UNT Dallas Board of Regents also stepped in to support the law school, bolstering its financial reserves from $3 million to $6 million, Furgeson said.

“The ABA process has strengthened our law school and made us a better law school,” Furgeson said. “The first rejection was challenging to work through, but it highlighted our weaknesses, and we made adjustments to make us better.”

read more:  http://www.nationaljurist.com/national-jurist-magazine/unt-dallas-gets-aba-accreditation-after-raising-lsat-scores

[UNTLifer]

I get pissed when I read "the University of North Texas at Dallas Law School."  Just a stupid move by Jackson influenced by a south Dallas politician and a bad move.