NEW ORLEANS — The Loyola University New Orleans College of Law announced that it has changed its admissions policy to allow applicants to submit either the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) to be considered for the school’s three-year Juris Doctor program. The decision comes a month after the American Bar Association officially announced it was allowing law schools to accept either test.
“This is such an exciting opportunity for Loyola Law to reach a broader group of applicants,” said Loyola Law Dean Madeleine Landrieu in a press release. “To solve tomorrow’s problems, we need diverse and innovative leaders — engineers, doctors, nurses, journalists, accountants, business and healthcare leaders, entrepreneurs, and first-generation applicants — who want to pursue the study and practice of law. Those with existing GRE scores can now apply for admission without having to sit for yet another exam.”
76 of 197 ABA-approved law schools, including Harvard University College of Law, Boston College Law School and Georgetown University Law Center, already accept the GRE for admissions, so the decision is not unprecedented. However, Loyola said it is the first Louisiana law school to do so. Administrators hope the policy change will remove a financial and logistical burden for applicants who would otherwise be required to prepare for and pay for an additional test. The decision to accept the GRE is part of a wider strategy to expand access at Loyola in general and at the College of Law specifically. In 2020, the program yielded its most racially and economically diverse class in history, according to the school’s public affairs office.
“U.S. News and World Report has named the law school one of the nation’s best and spotlighted its specialty clinic programs, which allow law students a wide range of professional practice opportunities before they graduate,” said Kimberly Jones, Law admissions director. “More and more, too, we are seeing applicants who are 25 and older seeking to advance or change their careers. This decision allows law schools like Harvard and Loyola to reach and enroll those applicants more easily, so they can get started on their legal careers. And we are always working toward greater diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Loyola said the LSAT remains an important measure of success and anticipates that the majority of Loyola New Orleans College of Law applicants will continue to take it — but the school is optimistic that the GRE will option will increase the number and diversity of applicants.
