State’s three ABA-accredited law schools received nearly 3,300 applications as questions mount about opportunities for Black students and the future of accreditation
Alabama’s legal-education system is entering a consequential period after the American Bar Association officially eliminated the diversity requirement governing accredited law schools.
The ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar voted September 8 to repeal the rule requiring law schools to demonstrate a commitment to diversity in recruitment, admissions and student programming. Council Chair Melissa Hart described the decision as a pragmatic step intended to protect the national accreditation system—not a rejection of the organization’s stated values.
The change has particular significance in Alabama, where Black residents comprise approximately one-fourth of the population but remain underrepresented nationally in the legal profession.
An exact number of Black lawyers practicing in Alabama could not be independently verified. The Alabama State Bar reports approximately 19,000 members but does not provide a publicly accessible racial breakdown that would establish how many are Black. Nationally, ABA data indicate that Black attorneys represent roughly 5% of the legal profession.
Alabama has three ABA-accredited law schools: the University of Alabama School of Law, Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law and Faulkner University’s Thomas Goode Jones School of Law.
Their 2025 ABA disclosures show:
•University of Alabama: 1,748 completed applications, 448 offers and a 25.63% acceptance rate
•Cumberland: 925 applications, 453 offers and a 48.97% acceptance rate
•Faulkner: 620 applications, 334 offers and a 53.87% acceptance rate
Combined, the schools received 3,293 completed applications and issued 1,235 offers, producing a combined offer rate of approximately 37.5%. Those figures count applications rather than unique applicants because one student may apply to several schools.
The diversity question extends beyond admission. Faulkner reported 75 Black students among its 411-member J.D. enrollment in fall 2025. Alabama’s disclosures reported 19 Black students across its J.D. enrollment. Each school remains free to continue outreach, mentoring and student-support efforts voluntarily, but those programs will no longer be required under the repealed ABA standard.
Alabama had already moved to reduce the ABA’s control over attorney licensing. In May, the Alabama Supreme Court revised its rules so that graduating from an ABA-approved institution would no longer be the state’s only educational pathway to bar eligibility.
The U.S. Department of Education has separately recommended ending the ABA’s federal recognition as the nation’s law-school accreditor. A federal advisory committee is expected to consider that recommendation September 23.
For Alabama’s prospective Black attorneys, the unresolved question is whether law schools will sustain meaningful recruitment and support without an accreditation requirement compelling them to do so.