The first part of this tale (Introduction) noted the link between the Standard 501(b) (admission of unqualified students) and Standard 301(a) (quality of program) and Standard 303(b) (retention of unqualified students). Interpretation 301-3:
Among the factors to consider in assessing compliance with Standard 501(b) are the academic and admission test credentials of the law school’s entering students, the academic attrition rate of the law school’s students, the bar passage rate of its graduates, and the effectiveness of the law school’s academic support program. (Emphasis added.)
Interpretation 303-3 elaborates on the necessity of academic support:
A law school shall provide the academic support necessary to assure each student a satisfactory opportunity to complete the program, graduate, and become a member of the legal profession. This obligation may require a school to create and maintain a formal academic support program.
Under Interpretation 303-3, the role of academic support is to give students a "satisfactory" opportunity of doing two things: (i) completing law school, and graduating; and (ii) being admitted to the Bar. This part of the tale focuses on the first part, completion and graduation. The ABA does not require law schools to report graduation rates. Instead, law schools report the prior year's attrition rates for students in their first, second, third or fourth year of law school (separately). Under Interpretation 501-3, academic attrition rates are a factor in determining compliance with Standard 501(b) (admission of unqualified students). A law school may not admit high-risk students, put them to the test, and then fail a "high" proportion of them. Rather, each student must have a satisfactory opportunity to graduate.
| Fall 2008 Entering Class | ||
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | La Verne | |
| GPA 75th | 3.27 | 3.30 |
| GPA 50th | 3.05 | 2.99 |
| GPA 25th | 2.75 | 2.74 |
| LSAT 75th | 153 | 153 |
| LSAT 50th | 150 | 151 |
| LSAT 25th | 149 | 149 |
| Academic Attrition |
4.4% | 6.4% |
Let's look at first-year academic attrition rates. How do the rates of Charlotte (4.4%) and La Verne (6.4%) for the Fall 2008 entering class compare to the rates of other law schools?
The table above shows that, for all law schools in the continental United States, while the average first-year academic attrition rate was 2.8%, the distribution of first-year academic attrition rates is extremely skewed; 57% of law schools had a rate of less than 2%. Charlotte, at 4.4%, was at about the 77th percentile, while La Verne, at 6.4%, was at about the 83rd percentile. But then, with Fall 2008 LSAT 75th percentile scores of 153, both schools fell at about the 14th percentile.
How do the attrition rates of the two schools compare to other lower-tier schools? For other purposes, I had ranked law schools in the continental United States, other than Historically Black Law Schools, into quintiles based on the averages LSAT 75th percentile scores of recent entering classes. Both Charlotte and La Verne fell in the first quintile (the lowest 20%).
The view at the bottom is quite different. For schools in the first quintile, the average first-year academic attrition rate is 6.4%. The distribution is still somewhat skewed, but is much flatter that the distribution for all law schools. Compared to their peers, Charlotte, with 4.4%, fell at about the 42nd percentile, while La Verne, with 6.4%, fell at about the 50th percentile. If La Verne's first-year academic attrition rate is too high, thereby implicating Interpretation 303-3 and 501-3, then so are the academic attrition rates at half of the first quintile.
But low academic attrition rates may also show a lack of rigor in a school's academic program (Interpretation 301-3). Also, academic attrition is only half of academic support; the other half is giving each student a satisfactory opportunity to become a member of the legal profession (pass the Bar). That's up next.
Update: corrected reference to 301-3 in first paragraph.
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