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LSAC Statement of Good Admission and Financial Aid Practices  

Summary

To promote fairness for all participants in the law school admission and financial aid processes by encouraging the highest standards of professional conduct, all law school admission and financial aid offices should:

A. Avoid impropriety and conflicts of interest and uphold the integrity of the admission and financial aid processes.

B. Provide candid current data about applicants' prospects for admission, financial aid, completing the degree program. and employment

1. Law schools have an oversight role and are responsible for the representations of all individuals involved in recruitment and promotion of their school. All representatives, including graduates, faculty, and students, are obligated to be informed about relevant programs, procedures. financial aid, job opportunities for graduates, standards, and policies of the school.

2. Recruitment activities should not include unreasonable and unfounded Comparisons with other law schools. It is unreasonable and unfounded to use rankings to compare the quality of your law school with other law schools.

3. Publications, videos, and electronic communications of a law school should be current and accurate in all respects. Application materials should contain admission and financial aid information and deadlines

4. Prelaw advisors and others who counsel applicants should be provided with accurate and current information.

C. Establish and maintain a fair, coherent, and consistent admission process, inform applicants about it, respect their confidentiality, and observe relevant laws and guidelines such as the Cautionary Policies Concerning Use of the LSAT

1. Make it clear to applicants what is required in the admission process, including deadlines, and the consequences of providing late, incomplete, false, or misleading information (which includes referral to the LSAC Subcommittee on Misconduct and Irregularities In the Admission Process).

2. Require applicants to submit an application and complete all admission procedures before making an admission offer.

3. In making admission decisions, consider various criteria such as academic record, LSAT, letters of recommendation, personal statements, work experience, and diversity Do not give undue weight to the LSAT.

4. Offer equal opportunity to applicants who are members of cultural, ethnic, or racial groups who would not be otherwise meaningfully represented in the entering class.

5. Make reasonable accommodations to the needs of disabled applicants in the admission process.

6. Scrupulously maintain the privacy of applicants and release individually identifiable information only to those with legitimate interests such as admission and financial aid personnel.

D. Disclose to incoming transfer applicants the programmatic implications of transferring, such as law review status, financial aid eligibility, and course requirements.

E. Promptly inform applicants of admission and financial aid decisions

1. Observe the April 1 common applicant response date that allows applicants to freely choose among offers of admission, scholarships, grants, and Loans without pena1ty for fall matriculation. The sole exception is for applicants who have applied under a bona fide early decision plan. A bona fide early decision plan is an agreement between the applicant and the school that, if admitted by December 15, the applicant withdraw all pending applications and not initiate new ones.

2. Disclose to a wait listed app1icant wait list procedures such as submitting additional material, the likely timing of an admission decision; and other information fairly determined to permit the applicant to make an informed choice on other opportunities.

F. Admissions and financial aid professionals have an obligation to provide applicants with clear, accurate and complete information about institutional and federal finania1 aid policies, requirements, and availability.

1. Provide information on cost of attendance that accurately reflects reasonable and current coats, and which includes information on average debt load and debt management

2. Provide all applicants with information about policies and procedures for applying for and appealing financial aid awards.

3. Notify the applicant of financial aid awards that are within the control of the law school prior to requiring a nonrefundable financial commitment