Sunday, December 10, 2017

Why Online Law Degrees Are Unlikely to Gain Legitimacy - Cait Etherington, eLearning Inside

The law profession carefully regulates which programs can gain accreditation and so far, online law degrees have made few gains, even as other professions rush to scale up their online offerings. Indeed, as stated on the American Bar Association (ABA) website, “Currently, no law schools that provide a J.D. degree completely via distance education are approved by the ABA.” The ABA even warns prospective students that “Earning an education completely via distance education may drastically limit your ability to sit for the bar in many states.” The key reason the law profession appears to be resistant to online degrees is tradition. Gregory Duhl, an associate dean for strategic initiatives at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law recently told US News, “I think the legal profession and legal education are just very resistant to change.” This was also the conclusion reached when a promising online JD program at Syracuse was rejected by the ABA earlier this year.  https://news.elearninginside.com/why-online-law-degrees-are-unlikely-to-gain-legitimacy/