The future of the nation's primary law school accreditor now rests in the hands of the Trump Education Department after a federal panel deadlocked 8-8 on whether to strip the American Bar Association (ABA) of its gatekeeper status following dozens of federal compliance failures.The deadlock hands the decision to Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent, who has up to 90 days to decide whether to revoke the ABA’s decades-long accreditation monopoly over roughly 200 law schools nationwide.In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Department of Education spokesperson confirmed that staff had already recommended stripping the ABA's gatekeeper status after finding the group out of compliance with "more than 26 recognition criteria."The advisory body—known formally as the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI)—advises the Education Department on whether higher education accreditors meet federal standards.
NACIQI Chairman Jay Greene told Fox News Digital that while the panel split 8-8 on what action to take, committee members across the board shared a core concern over how the ABA is structured."The primary issue that troubled all members of NACIQI is that the ABA accrediting body is clearly not separate and independent from the ABA as a whole," Greene said, noting that federal law requires institutional accreditors to operate independently of trade associations."Everyone on the committee agreed that this was a problem that required changes.
The main divide was over whether the ABA was willing and able to take those steps to remedy the problem or not."WATCH: BRANDON GILL CORNERS LAW SCHOOL GATEKEEPER WITH DEI QUESTION SHE WON'T ANSWERA federal advisory panel deadlocked on whether to strip the ABA of its accreditation power, leaving its gatekeeper status in the hands of the Trump Education Department.(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Responding to panel criticisms of chronic noncompliance, Melissa Hart, chair of the ABA Accreditation ...