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Liberty Counsel proudly congratulates Liberty University School of Law for full accreditation approval awarded by the American Bar Association during its annual meeting in San Francisco. On August 5, the ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar granted full approval to the law school. Liberty University School of Law opened in August 2004. A law school must complete a full academic year before it is eligible to apply for provisional approval by the ABA. The School of Law applied for provisional approval in 2005 and was awarded provisional approval on February 13, 2006, only eighteen months after the first students arrived on campus. A law school may not apply for full approval until it has been provisionally approved for two years. Obtaining full approval is a tremendous accomplishment and a big step in fulfilling the mission of the law school.

Now that the law school is fully approved, it will move forward with plans to launch degrees in addition to the JD. Some of the degrees in planning include various specialties in law (LL.M.), a master’s in Public Policy, and a Ph.D. in law. When implemented, the non-JD degrees will be both residential and online. The law school also plans on launching study abroad programs. The locations include Israel, Europe and Asia. The law school is also considering an accelerated degree program for eligible students to obtain an undergraduate and law degree in six, rather than seven years, by combining undergraduate courses and courses from the school of law. This fall the law school and Liberty University will announce the dual degree program which allows law students to obtain a master’s degree along with their law degree in less time when combined together.