美国主要法学院认证机构的未来，如今掌握在特朗普政府的教育部手中。此前，一个联邦咨询委员会在是否剥夺美国律师协会（ABA）守门人资格的问题上以8比8陷入僵局，原因是该机构存在数十项联邦合规失误。
The future of the nation's primary law school accreditor now rests in the hands of the Trump Education Department after a federal panel deadlocked 8-8 on whether to strip the American Bar Association (ABA) of its gatekeeper status following dozens of federal compliance failures.
这一僵局将决定权交给了教育部副部长尼古拉斯·肯特，他最多有90天时间来决定是否撤销ABA对全美约200所法学院长达数十年的认证垄断权。教育部发言人在给福克斯新闻数字频道的声明中证实，工作人员在发现ABA不符合“超过26项认可标准”后，已建议剥夺其守门人资格。该咨询机构正式名称为机构质量与诚信全国咨询委员会（NACIQI），负责就高等教育认证机构是否符合联邦标准向教育部提供建议。
The deadlock hands the decision to Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent, who has up to 90 days to decide whether to revoke the ABA’s decades-long accreditation monopoly over roughly 200 law schools nationwide. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Department of Education spokesperson confirmed that staff had already recommended stripping the ABA's gatekeeper status after finding the group out of compliance with "more than 26 recognition criteria." The advisory body — known formally as the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) — advises the Education Department on whether higher education accreditors meet federal standards.
NACIQI主席杰伊·格林告诉福克斯新闻数字频道，尽管委员会在采取何种行动上以8比8分裂，但全体成员都对ABA的结构方式抱有核心担忧。
NACIQI Chairman Jay Greene told Fox News Digital that while the panel split 8-8 on what action to take, committee members across the board shared a core concern over how the ABA is structured.
格林说：“让NACIQI所有成员都感到不安的主要问题是，ABA的认证机构显然并非独立于整个ABA之外。”他指出，联邦法律要求机构认证方独立于行业协会运作。“委员会所有人都同意，这是一个需要改变的问题。主要分歧在于，ABA是否愿意并且能够采取这些措施来解决问题。”针对委员会对长期不合规的批评，ABA认证委员会主席梅丽莎·哈特为该组织的历史记录进行了辩护。
"The primary issue that troubled all members of NACIQI is that the ABA accrediting body is clearly not separate and independent from the ABA as a whole," Greene said, noting that federal law requires institutional accreditors to operate independently of trade associations. "Everyone on the committee agreed that this was a problem that required changes. The main divide was over whether the ABA was willing and able to take those steps to remedy the problem or not." Responding to panel criticisms of chronic noncompliance, Melissa Hart, chair of the ABA Accreditation Council, defended the organization's historic track record.
哈特在一份声明中表示：“自1952年以来，该委员会一直得到教育部的认可；在过去74年里，它在每一次定期评估中都符合教育部的要求。我们非常重视自身的认证资格以及作为认证机构的地位，并且始终被视为评估法学博士（J.D.）项目的权威机构。”
"The Council has been continuously recognized by the Department of Education since 1952, being found in compliance during every regular recognition cycle for the past 74 years," Hart said in a statement. "We take accreditation and our recognition as an accreditor very seriously, and we continue to be a reliable authority for accrediting J.D. programs."
然而，一些法律倡导组织认为，美国律师协会（ABA）存在结构性缺陷，且其近期政策发生了变化，因此已不再适合担任法律行业的监管机构。美国First Legal律师事务所的高级副总裁、曾任教育部法律顾问的里德·鲁宾斯坦在接受Fox News Digital采访时指出：“美国律师协会已经自毁了自身的信誉，也削弱了公众对法律职业的信任。”
However, legal advocacy groups argue the ABA's structural defects and recent policy shifts render it unfit to serve as an industry gatekeeper. Reed Rubinstein, senior vice president of America First Legal and former general counsel at the Department of Education, told Fox News Digital that the ABA has "disqualified itself and undermined public faith and trust in the legal profession."
另一份重磅报告揭露了法学院招生机制中的“严重失衡现象”，这种失衡直接影响了选举案件的裁决结果。鲁宾斯坦还批评美国律师协会最近废除其具有争议性的多元化、公平与包容（DEI）认证标准的举措，称这只是“为了维持权力的手段”，并不能从根本上解决法律体系中的根本性问题。"DEI认证标准从通过之刻起，就与具有约束力的最高法院判决和《民权法案》的明文相冲突，"鲁宾斯坦表示，并敦促特朗普政府永久取消ABA的联邦地位。"
EXPLOSIVE REPORT EXPOSES ‘DANGEROUS IMBALANCE’ IN LAW SCHOOL PIPELINE SHAPING HOW ELECTION CASES ARE DECIDED Rubinstein also dismissed the ABA's recent move to repeal its controversial diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) accreditation standard as a "ruse to retain power," arguing it does not cure the underlying legal flaws. "The DEI accreditation standard, from the moment it was adopted, conflicted with controlling Supreme Court rulings and the plain text of the Civil Rights Act," Rubinstein said, urging the Trump administration to permanently strip the ABA of its federal status.
ABA的领导层已公开或私下明确表示，一有机会就会回归其非法的意识形态议程。"70多年来，ABA一直作为美国法学院唯一的联邦认可认证机构运作，使该组织对法律职业拥有近乎垄断的控制权。在几乎所有州，学生必须毕业于ABA认证的法学院才有资格参加律师资格考试。此外，联邦政府将ABA的认证作为第四章联邦学生援助的把关人，这意味着法学院必须获得该组织的认可印章，其学生才能获得联邦贷款。
"The ABA's leadership has made it clear, publicly and otherwise, that it will return to its unlawful ideological agenda at its first opportunity." For more than 70 years, the ABA has operated as the sole federally recognized accreditor for U.S. law schools, granting the organization a near-monopoly over the legal profession. In almost every state, students must graduate from an ABA-accredited law school to be eligible to sit for the bar exam. Furthermore, the federal government uses the ABA's accreditation as the gatekeeper for Title IV federal student aid, meaning law schools must secure the group's stamp of approval for their students to receive federal loans.
美容学校妈妈们陷入认证交叉火力，特朗普政府权衡重大决定 如果肯特副部长最终决定取消对ABA的认可，该决定将有效打破这一全国性垄断。虽然隶属于大型大学的法学院可以依赖其更广泛的机构认证机构来维持联邦财政援助的准入，但大约十几所独立法学院将被迫四处寻找替代认证。州最高法院也将面临立即重写律师准入规则的压力，以允许非ABA法学院的毕业生参加考试。
BEAUTY SCHOOL MOMS CAUGHT IN ACCREDITATION CROSSFIRE AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WEIGHS CONSEQUENTIAL DECISION If Under Secretary Kent ultimately moves to strip the ABA of its recognition, the decision would effectively break that national monopoly. While law schools affiliated with larger universities could rely on their broader institutional accreditors to maintain access to federal financial aid, roughly a dozen stand-alone law schools would be forced to scramble for alternative accreditation. State supreme courts would also face immediate pressure to rewrite their bar admission rules to allow graduates from non-ABA schools to take the exam.
一些州已经开始自行采取行动以绕过ABA的控制。由于法律职业直接由司法部门监管，州最高法院拥有设定律师准入教育要求的最终权力。
Some states have already begun taking matters into their own hands to bypass the ABA's grip. Because the legal profession is regulated directly by the judicial branch, state supreme courts hold the ultimate authority to set educational requirements for bar admission.
特朗普政府敦促将教育权归还各州，指出已花费3万亿美元税款而学生成绩却很差。今年1月，得克萨斯州成为全国第一个不再依赖美国律师协会（ABA）进行法学院认证的州，得克萨斯州最高法院最终确定了一项规则，自行接管审批程序。仅九天后，佛罗里达州最高法院也紧随其后。
TRUMP ADMIN URGES RETURNING EDUCATION TO STATES, CITING $3 TRILLION OF TAXES SPENT AND POOR PROFICIENCY SCORES In January, Texas became the first state in the nation to eliminate its reliance on the ABA for law school accreditation, with the Texas Supreme Court finalizing a rule to take over the approval process itself. Just nine days later, the Florida Supreme Court followed suit.
通过切断与该组织的联系，得克萨斯州最高法院宣布，它将依据“简单、客观且意识形态中立的标准”来评判法学院，而不是ABA那些被许多人视为政治驱动的强制要求。其他州现在也开始加入这场对ABA的反抗。俄亥俄州最高法院于5月正式提出修正案，拟建立州级认证程序，而田纳西州、阿拉巴马州和华盛顿州的最高法院近期也都采取措施，绕过该组织的垄断。
By cutting ties with the organization, the Texas high court announced it would judge law schools on "simple, objective, and ideologically neutral criteria" rather than the ABA's mandates deemed by many as politically-driven. Other states are now catching on to the rebellion against the ABA. The Ohio Supreme Court formally proposed amendments in May to establish a state-run accreditation process, while supreme courts in Tennessee, Alabama and Washington have all recently taken steps to bypass the organization's monopoly.
“ABA对法学院认证的卡特尔式控制推高了成本，限制了入学机会，并将荒谬的意识形态要求置于择优之上，”特朗普的司法部今年早些时候表示。“终止田纳西州最高法院的独家依赖将扩大机会，并降低成本。”鲁宾斯坦指出，将权力交还各州标志着对法律教育的一次迟来的纠正。
"The ABA’s cartel-like control over law school accreditation drives up costs, limits access, and pushes ridiculous ideological mandates over merit," Trump's DOJ said earlier this year. "Ending the Tennessee Supreme Court’s exclusive reliance will expand opportunity AND lower costs." Rubinstein noted that transferring authority back to the states marks a long-overdue correction for legal education.
“州最高法院最终负责律师的认证和惩戒——可以说根本不需要中间人，”鲁宾斯坦对福克斯新闻数字频道表示。“通过将法律教育的实际权力直接归还法院本身……结果应该是律师获得更高质量的教育，公众获得更多的问责和透明。”
"State supreme courts are ultimately responsible for certifying and disciplining attorneys—there is arguably no need for a middleman," Rubinstein told Fox News Digital. "By returning actual authority over legal education directly to the courts themselves... the result should be a better-quality education for attorneys and more accountability and transparency for the public."