TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s Supreme Court voted Thursday to replace the American Bar Association as the sole gatekeeper for which law school graduates may sit for the state bar exam, a shift that follows Texas’ recent decision to curb the role of ABA accreditation in lawyer licensing. The court said it aims to expand access to “high-quality, affordable legal education” while keeping graduates of ABA-accredited schools eligible to test, Jan. 15, 2026.
ABA accreditation: what Florida changed
In the Florida Supreme Court’s opinion in case SC2025-2064, the justices amended bar admission Rule 4-13.2 to end reliance on the ABA as the only accrediting agency for an “accredited law school.” Under the change, bar eligibility can come through ABA accreditation or through other programmatic accreditors recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, as well as institutional accreditors recognized by the department and approved by the court.
The amendments take effect Oct. 1, 2026, and public comments are due by March 31. The court noted the ABA is currently the only federally recognized programmatic accreditor for the first professional degree in law, meaning any practical impact will hinge on whether other accreditors develop law-school standards and win court approval.
The Florida Bar’s news site said the court expects to contact institutional accreditors that oversee colleges and universities more broadly to see whether they would develop law-school-specific rules centered on outcomes such as bar passage, employment results and student disclosures. The report emphasized that law schools may still seek ABA approval and that graduates of ABA-accredited schools remain eligible, even as Florida opens the door to alternatives beyond ABA accreditation.
The Florida vote arrived days after Texas finalized its own break with the ABA and as Republican officials and federal regulators raise concerns about cost and ideology in ABA accreditation standards, as reported by Reuters.
Texas sets its own approval list
Texas made the first break this month, issuing a Jan. 6 order from the Texas Supreme Court that defines an “approved law school” as one approved by the court rather than by the ABA. The order took effect immediately, keeps the state’s existing list intact for now and says schools on the list must remain in compliance with several ABA standards — including its bar-passage benchmark and required disclosures — even if they were to lose ABA accreditation.
The Texas court said it intends to preserve the portability of Texas law degrees into other states and out-of-state degrees into Texas, while developing a process for schools that do not have ABA accreditation. The order described its approach as “simple, objective, and ideologically neutral criteria.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, praised the Florida decision as a “good move,” adding, “The (highly partisan) ABA should not be a gatekeeper for legal education or the legal profession.” Florida Supreme Court Justice Jorge Labarga, the lone dissenter, called the changes an “extraordinary step” and wrote the court should “stay the course with the ABA as the sole law school accreditor.”
What comes next for ABA accreditation
Jenn Rosato Perea, the ABA’s managing director of accreditation and legal education, has said the organization wants to engage with states to show the value of a national system, including consumer protections and portability. The ABA maintains its Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools, which supporters say provide a baseline for ABA accreditation that employers, students and regulators can readily compare across states.
Ohio and Tennessee are also weighing whether to adjust their own ABA accreditation requirements. Ohio’s Supreme Court convened an advisory committee to review its accreditation process, according to a July 2025 Reuters report. In Tennessee, a Sept. 2025 Reuters report said the state Supreme Court asked the public to weigh in on potential reforms that include reducing reliance on ABA accreditation and exploring less expensive licensing pathways.
Florida’s decision caps a review that began last year, when the court formed a workgroup to study ABA accreditation rules after disputes over the group’s diversity mandate and its political engagement, according to a March 2025 Reuters report. The ABA has since put its law school diversity requirement on hold into 2026.
For law schools and students, ABA accreditation is likely to remain the dominant credential for bar eligibility and interstate mobility in the near term. But Florida and Texas have signaled that, over time, ABA accreditation may become one option among several as states try to balance access, cost and oversight.
