Law360 (September 8, 2026, 3:20 PM EDT) -- The American Bar Association council responsible for law school accreditation voted Tuesday to eliminate its diversity and inclusion standard, the final step in a process that the council hopes will ensure it remains an accreditor recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

In a special session of the ABA Council for the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, members voted to go through with the controversial plan to eliminate Standard 206, which requires schools to "demonstrate by concrete action a commitment to diversity and inclusion." The vote made the change effective immediately.

In August, the measure was put before the ABA's House of Delegates at its annual meeting, where the delegates rejected it but also voted to streamline the process for changing law school standards, allowing the council to finalize the decision ahead of a review by the Department of Education later this month.

"The council believes that national accreditation of law schools is in the best interests of law students, the legal profession, and the public, and we can best serve in this role with continued recognition by state supreme courts and the Department of Education," council chair Melissa Hart said in a statement. "Repealing Standard 206 was necessary to preserve recognition by a growing number of state courts as well as the department."

The council approved the change on a 10-6 vote, with one member abstaining. Beto Juarez, the former dean of Nova Southeastern University's Shepard Broad College of Law, and Diedre Keller, the former dean of the Florida A&M University College of Law, both asked that their no votes be recorded.

"I am unable to predict what will happen in the future, but essentially that's what we're all doing in casting this vote," Juarez said. "Certainly I understand the importance of having a national accreditor. I simply come to a different conclusion with regard to how best to carry that out."

David Brennen, a professor and former dean at the University of Kentucky's J. David Rosenberg College of Law, was one of the repeal's initial opponents but ultimately decided to vote for it during Tuesday's meeting, saying he hopes law schools will do what they can to support and encourage diversity in the legal profession.

"I've watched very carefully the way a lot of states — state supreme courts in particular — have looked at the issue of Standard 206, and despite my own personal view, they characterize it as a sort of political requirement," he said. "Although I disagree with that characterization, I can understand how they've gotten there, and I don't want to see that be an inhibitor of us as an accrediting body of being able to be the national accreditor of law schools."

Several supporters of Standard 206 pointed to the potential far-reaching consequences of the ABA losing its accreditation authority.

"If there is not a national accreditor, there is a great threat to portability, and probably not effective portability from state to state," said Steve Bahls, the president emeritus of Augustana College. "That means law schools that are ABA-accredited will need to say to law students that maybe or maybe not you'll be able to take the bar exam in this state or that state, depending upon the political whims of the time. So as we weigh these competing values, and because there are other organizations that will effectively continue to advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, I believe that we should protect the value of portability and national accreditation."

Standard 206 is the first of several diversity-related standards that the council has chosen to reevaluate. The council sought public comment on its repeal in February, with the vast majority of commenters opposing the plan to eliminate the standard.

However, the council voted in May that the standard should be eliminated, citing indications from the Trump administration that accreditors of higher education that maintain diversity, equity and inclusion standards would be likely to lose their accreditor status.

The ABA's House of Delegates gave symbolic support for Standard 206 at its annual meeting in August. Delegates voted down the proposal to eliminate the standard but simultaneously approved a procedure change that would allow the council to move ahead with the elimination without waiting for a second House of Delegates vote. The council has final say on all standards changes.

The ABA council was unable to vote on the fate of Standard 206 at its regularly scheduled August meeting because fewer than 30 days had passed since the House of Delegates vote, and so it scheduled Tuesday's special session.

The council is scheduled to appear later this month before the Department of Education's National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, the 18-member committee that will recommend whether it should continue to act as a law school accreditor.

Education Department staff in August recommended that the ABA cease to be a recognized accreditor. The secretary of education would have the final say on the decision.

The council has also recommended amending or eliminating three other standards, which relate to discrimination, disability accommodations and coursework on bias.

--Additional reporting by Emily Sawicki. Editing by Rich Mills.

For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.