The ABA recently approved new rules which will change the way it collects graduate employment information from law schools.
According to the National Law Journal, the ABA approved a new annual questionnaire intended to gather more detailed information from law schools about where recent graduates are finding work. The updated questionnaire contains several new elements:
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Law schools will report data directly to the ABA rather than through NALP
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Law schools will have to report whether graduates are in jobs funded by the schools themselves. They will also have to report whether graduates are in jobs requiring bar passage; jobs for which JD’s are an advantage; professional positions that don’t require a JD; and non-professional positions.
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Information must be reported for each individual graduate rather than in the aggregate, allowing the ABA to audit the figures.
The changes came about as law schools and the ABA have been criticized for not providing prospective students with an accurate picture of graduate employment and salary levels. While the new questionnaire is seen as an improvement, it does not include all the changes that transparency advocates have been pushing for.
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