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 July 18 and will be released on July 21. Weekly articles will resume for the week ending September 5.
AALS Legal Education News Digest – Two Weeks Ending July 3, 2025
AALS Legal Education Blogs Digest – Two Weeks Ending July 3, 2025
Here are a few articles of note from the past week:
- Congress has passed a bill that will put a cap on federal student loan borrowing. As the cap was set far below the average amount a law student borrows during a year, it is likely that many students will have to seek out private loans to cover expenses or could be priced out of a legal education. (Reuters)
- Proposed legislation in California would require the California State Bar to give a two-year notice to the National Conference of Bar Examiners before switching to a new test format. This proposal comes amid a series of challenges with a new version of the California State Bar Exam affecting test-takers’ ability to take and pass the exam. (Law.com)
- Law school deans have submitted comments on an ABA proposal to double the required amount of experiential learning credits required for a law degree. Fifty-two law school deans submitted a comment asking the ABA to delay the proposal and implement a more incremental approach as many deans worry that the requirement would burden law school during financial and political uncertainty. (Reuters)
Law School Programs, Clinics and Milestones
- A look at Arizona State University Law’s free and low-cost clinics. (Arizona State University)
- Fordham Law debuts LLM program in competition law. (Fordham Law News)
- University of Michigan Law International Transactions Clinic advises startups in Kenya and Costa Rica. (Michigan Law)
- University of Montana Law Indian Law Clinic helps preserve tribal nation histories. (NBC Montana)
Law School Dean Moves and Hires
- John C.P. Goldberg named dean of Harvard Law. (The Harvard Gazette)
- Yale Law dean Heather Gerken to serve as president of the Ford Foundation. (Reuters)
Higher Education
- Harvard has partnered with the University of Toronto to create contingency plan that would allow Harvard graduate students to complete their degrees in Canada if visa restrictions keep them from studying in the US. This announcement comes in response to the federal government revoking Harvard’s ability to enroll international students. Though a federal judge has blocked the government from implementing this, this contingency plan will protect international students if the action does go through. (Reuters)
- Texas has passed a bill limiting expressive activity on university campuses. The bill aims to prevent disruption and ensure campus safety, though critics argue that it will stifle free speech and infringe upon student, faculty, and staff freedom of speech. (Inside Higher Ed)
- Universities worry that cuts to federal funding will cause a decrease in staffing for financial aid offices. Uncertainty around federal funding and decreased staffing could result in issues with administering aid to students. (Inside Higher Ed)