Over the last decade, AALS has kept law school leadership, faculty, and staff informed with its weekly Legal Education News Digest and Blogs Digest. Sign up to receive these digests by email.
To keep law school faculty and staff up to date with the latest legal education news, we collect articles on new programs, collaborations between schools, milestones, faculty accomplishments, awards, clinical activities, and special events. You can share news and updates with the editors of the weekly digest here. With the launch of our online platform AALS LENS, we will be sharing a weekly roundup of legal education news, highlighting the most important stories.
Over the summer, AALS will publish “This Week in Legal Education News” every other week. The next article will cover the two-week period ending June 20 and will be released on June 23. Weekly articles will resume for the week ending September 5.
Here are a few articles of note from the past week:
Diversity among deans has seen little change in recent years according Law.com's analysis of data from Rosenblatt’s Deans Database. The report shows a slight increase in Black deans, but a decrease in Latinx deans between June 2022 and May 2025. (Law.com)
An LSAC study has found that 84 percent of law students have said that cost was a major factor in choosing a school. The report also collected data on how law students paid for their first year of law school. (ABA Journal)
A University of Maryland Carey Law study found that a generative artificial intelligence model was able to score an A+ on law school final exams. This is an improvement from previous years where artificial intelligence models scored mostly B’s and C’s, emphasizing the growing intelligence of such programs. (Reuters)
The ABA has seen a modest increase in schools submitting variance requests to admit students without an entrance exam. Also, though use of alternative tests such as JD-Next and the GRE for law school admission has grown, these alternatives to the LSAT still represent a very small percentage overall. (Law.com) (Law.com)
Law School Programs, Clinics and Milestones
UC Berkeley Law Project Climate Program initiative helps local communities implement sustainable practices. (UC Berkeley Law)
Fordham Law cybersecurity course teaches students with hands-on technical experience. (The National Jurist)
Southern Illinois University Law offers mobile legal clinics for senior citizens. (SIU Carbondale News)
Higher Education
The US State Department plans to increase vetting of international student visa applicants’ social media. The announcement comes amid a series of executive actions aimed at making it more difficult for international students to obtain visas and study at American universities. (Inside Higher Ed)
UC Berkeley researchers have launched a class action lawsuit against the federal government challenging cuts to research funding. The cuts have led to layoffs and grant terminations at many universities. (NBC News)
A medical school accreditor has voted to stop evaluating diversity programs as a measure of quality. The decision has received push back from medical professionals and educators out of fear that it will reduce access to medical education. (Inside Higher Ed)
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