*NEW* DOE and DOJ Provide Affirmative Action Guidance
The Department of Education and the Department of Justice have released a joint dear colleague letter that reaffirms their commitment to diversity in higher education and that provides guidance to admission professionals in response to the SCOTUS decision. The departments also released a Q&A document to help shed light on permissible admission practices.
The Shifting Landscape of Admission
Working in law school admission is never boring, and the coming months and years are shaping up to be particularly challenging. The June 29 Supreme Court decision prohibiting race-conscious admission represents a seismic impact in admission; schools are still digesting the nuances of the decision and considering next steps. Separately, the ABA Council on Legal Education has been advocating elimination of the requirement that law schools use a valid and reliable admission test as part of their admission process, although the Council in May announced it was pausing this effort, in part due to concerns and objections expressed by a majority of law school deans . Stepping back even further, law schools face a number of other admission challenges, including demographic trends that suggest a steep decline in college graduates in the coming decade, the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence, and other issues. LSAC is working to provide resources and answers, supported by expert advisors from the law school admission community.
Race-Conscious Admission
On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in two cases challenging affirmative action in college admission.The Court ruled that race-conscious admission is unconstitutional, but outlined certain ways in which schools could consider “an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life.” The Court’s decision creates significant uncertainty and challenges for admission leaders. While each school will craft its own response based on its unique mission and situation, LSAC is committed to providing tools and resources to help schools in this work.
LSAC Resources
Please Note: Any information or guidance provided in videos, pdfs, or other documents posted by LSAC does not constitute legal advice and institutions should seek legal advice from their institutional counsel.
Making Sense of the Supreme Court’s Ruling
Presentation Deck from the July 13, 2023 LSAC Post-Decision Workshop
The presentation slides from the July 13 Post-Decision Workshop provide a good overview of the June 29 Supreme Court ruling and considerations on next steps for institutions of higher education.
Preliminary Analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision in SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. UNC
The June 29 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the consideration of race in admission creates enormous uncertainty and a wide range of challenges for admission teams and legal education in general. The attached preliminary analysis of the decision by EducationCounsel, LLC, has been developed to serve as an initial resource for schools regarding the Supreme Court’s SFFA opinions.
Insights and Guidance from Art Coleman, EducationCounsel
At LSAC’s June 2023 Annual Meeting, EducationCounsel cofounder Art Coleman presented a plenary session that outlined the legal and policy foundations of the race-conscious admission issues, the potential outcomes and implications of the current cases, a road map for schools to prepare for various outcomes, and numerous helpful resources. Art Coleman is a nationally respected expert on policy and legal issues associated with student access, diversity, and inclusion. He has shared his presentation deck from the LSAC Annual Meeting for your reference and guidance.
Responding to the SCOTUS Decision
Supreme Court Guts Affirmative Action, Effectively Ending Race-conscious Admissions (NPR)
The End of Affirmative Action (The New Yorker)
Race-Conscious Affirmative Action - What’s Next? (Georgetown University)
What You Need to Know About Affirmative Action at the Supreme Court (ACLU)
Prepare Now for the 2023 Ruling (CollegeBoard)
The Access and Diversity Collaborative’s Action Guide for Higher Education (CollegeBoard)
The SCOTUS Decision
Decision SFFA v. Harvard (Decided June 29, 2023)
Justice Sotomayor’s Dissent
Justice Jackson’s Dissent
Oral Arguments - SFFA v. Harvard
Can Race Play a Role in College Admissions? The Supreme Court Hears the Arguments (NPR)
Review the Impact
End of Affirmative Action at UC Hurt Black, Latinx Students, Study Finds (UC Berkeley)
Law Student Diversity Hits New High as Schools Await Affirmative Action Ruling (Reuters)
History of Race-Based Admission
History of Affirmative Action (AAAED)
How the Supreme Court Ruled in the Past on Affirmative Action (NPR)
Perspectives
The Supreme Court Censoring History and Race Would Be a Mistake (CAP)
Stare Indecisis? (Harvard Law)
How Recent Supreme Court Decisions Affect Legal Education (LSAC)
Colleges Brace Themselves for SCOTUS Loss on Race-Conscious Admissions (Politico)
Yale Law Students Reflect on Race-Conscious Admissions (Yale Daily News)
Test-Optional Admission
In 2022, the ABA Council on Legal Education proposed elimination of the ABA Standard 503 requirement that virtually all law school applicants take a valid and reliable admission test like the LSAT. After intense consideration, the Council’s test-optional proposal was rejected by the full ABA House of Delegates at the February 2023 ABA mid-year meeting. Under ABA rules, however, the Council may seek reconsideration by the House, and even if the House rejects the proposal a second time, the Council has the ultimate say and can implement its proposal after two unsuccessful attempts. In February, the Council voted to seek another House vote in August 2023, but on May 12, the Council announced it was pausing this effort , in part due to concerns raised by the majority of law school deans, and would explore alternative approaches. While there are arguments on both sides, many diversity advocates fear that test-optional admission would undermine efforts to advance access and diversity in legal education. Ultimately, regardless of whether the test requirement is modified, we believe there are many important reasons for schools to continue to use a valid and reliable standardized assessment as part of their holistic admission processes — the LSAT continues to be the best single predictor of law school success; the LSAT provides schools and individuals with vital information in the decision-making process; the LSAT can help schools provide early academic assistance to improve student outcomes; and properly used, the LSAT can be a powerful tool for advancing access and diversity.
LSAC Resources
Please Note: Any information or guidance provided in videos, pdfs, or other documents posted by LSAC does not constitute legal advice and institutions should seek legal advice from their institutional counsel.
Concerns
Letter From 125 Law School Deans (April 2023)
Letter From Women of Color Deans (April 2023)
Submission From 60 Law School Deans (September 2022)
Submission From 51 Admission Professionals and Other Law School Leaders (August 2022)
Submission by LSAC (August 2022)
Research
The Predictive Validity of the LSAT (LSAC)
Background
Artificial Intelligence & Admissions
The rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence tools has the potential to disrupt the admission process – and legal education in general – in myriad ways. Some of the potential changes may be positive, some may be more ominous, but one thing is certain – the pace of AI innovation is accelerating, and schools need to think through how to respond. Here are some initial resources to help:
LSAC Resources
Current Generative AI Tools
ChatGPT (OpenAI) - text generation
Bard (Google) - text generation
DALL-E2 (OpenAI) - image generation
CoPilot (GitHub) - code generation
Current Landscape
What Does Chat GPT Mean for Us? (Penn Carey Law presentation, 3/24/23)
Admissions Offices Start - Cautiously - Using AI (Inside Higher Ed)
How Will Artificial Intelligence Change Higher Ed? (Chronicle of Higher Ed)
Learning the Law with AI: Why Law School Students Are Tentative about Using ChatGPT (LawNext)
Suspicion, Cheating and Bans: A.I. Hits America’s Schools (The Daily, 6/28/23)
Research
ChatGPT, Professor of Law (Oltz, 2023)
ChatGPT Goes to Law School (Choi et al.,2023)
AI Tools for Lawyers: A Practical Guide (Swarchz & Choi, 2023)
Stanford Center for Human-centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)
AI Terms for Legal Professionals: Understanding What Powers Legal Tech (LexisNexis)
Podcasts
Lawyer vs. AI or Lawyers + AI: Embracing the Future of Legal Practice , 3 Geeks and a Law Blog, 5/12/23
Chatting About ChatGPT and How Generative AI Will Transform Legal , LegalSpeak podcast, 3/11/23
Latest LSAC Programs and Events
Free Workshop on Admission Practices After the SCOTUS Decision
July 2023
This free workshop for deans and admission professionals examined the implications of the Supreme Court decisions. The morning session was led by Art Coleman, cofounder of EducationCounsel. The afternoon session featured a diverse panel of experts providing further analysis of the decision, potential next steps, and Q&A.
The Future is Now: AI and Law School Admissions
June 2023
With artificial intelligence tools on course to transform the work of law school admissions, LSAC staff come together to discuss the power and benefits of AI. They also explore ways that applicants might use AI and what that could mean for the admission process.
Download transcript of the June 22, 2023 webinar (PDF, 201 KB)
FLEX Apps and Beyond: Get Ready for the 2024 Applications
April 2023
In this webinar, Associate Product Manager of Unite, Sarah Hochberger, and LSAC Executive Director of Data Analytics, JoAnn Sabol, offer practical guidance on preparing your FlexApps for 2024 and provide essential tools that can help law schools navigate any future changes to the admission process.
Download transcript of the April 20, 2023 webinar (PDF, 170 KB)
Insights About Test-Optional Admissions
March 2023
While the ultimate decision on the ABA Council’s proposal for test-optional admissions isn’t clear yet, what insights — about applicant behavior, class diversity, and more — can be gleaned from the undergraduate realm, where many schools have adopted test-optional policies? In this webinar, a top researcher at the College Board discusses some of the lessons learned thus far from undergraduate institutions. Panelists also include a law school dean and a law school admission leader.
Download transcript of the March 16, 2023 webinar (PDF, 186 KB)
We’re Here to Support You
For more information about the future of law admission, please contact us at lawschoolengagement@LSAC.org.