The American Bar Association (ABA) has witnessed a rise in requests from law schools seeking a variance to admit students without an admissions test. This trend follows the ABA’s decision to permit law schools to submit a variance that would allow them to admit up to 100% of their class without a traditional admissions test. A noteworthy change to Standard 503, this expansion appears to appeal to several academic institutions keen to explore alternate avenues for admissions.
As of 2025, 14 law schools have submitted requests under this revised variance policy. In remarks to Law.com, Marc Miller, a former dean of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, emphasized that the new policy represents an expansion rather than a fundamental alteration of the existing rules, noting that “[t]he possibilities now are huge.”
The ABA’s website lists 10 requests that were submitted in January and approved by March. Four more submitted in April gained approval in May. More on this development can be found on the ABA’s public notice page dedicated to applications for variances. For further details, refer to the Law.com article.