About the LSAC

The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) is a nonprofit corporation that provides unique, state-of-the-art products and services to ease the admission process for law schools and their applicants worldwide. More than 200 law schools in the United States, Canada, and Australia are members of the Council and benefit from LSAC's services. All law schools approved by the American Bar Association are LSAC members, as are Canadian law schools recognized by a provincial or territorial law society or government agency. Many nonmember law schools also take advantage of LSAC's services. For all users, LSAC strives to provide the highest quality of products, services, and customer service.

Founded in 1947, the Council is best known for administering the Law School Admission Test (LSAT®), with over 170,000 tests administered annually at testing centers worldwide. LSAC also processes academic credentials for an average of 85,000 law school applicants annually, provides essential software and information for admission offices and applicants, conducts educational conferences for law school professionals and prelaw advisors, sponsors and publishes research, funds diversity and other outreach grant programs, and publishes LSAT preparation books and law school guides, among many other services.

Below you will find a brief description of LSAC's services and programs. At the core of each is an ongoing commitment to expanding educational opportunities for underrepresented minorities, educationally disadvantaged persons, and people with disabilities.

• The Law School Admission Test (LSAT)
• Credential Assembly Service (CAS)
• Candidate Referral Service (CRS)
• Law School Forums
• Diversity Initiatives
• Test Preparation Publications and Law School Guides

The LSAT is an important standard that aids law schools in their evaluation of applicants. The test helps law schools make sound admission decisions by providing a standard measure of acquired reading and verbal reasoning skills that are essential for success in law school. Administered four times each year in testing centers throughout the world, the LSAT is the first step in the law school admission process. It is required for admission to all ABA-approved law schools, most Canadian schools, an Australian school, and many other law schools, including some in India. The LSAT is not, of course, the sole factor law schools use to make their admission decisions. But it is the only common yardstick by which the ability of all prospective law students can be measured fairly.

The Credential Assembly Service streamlines law school admission by allowing applicants to have all transcripts, recommendations, and evaluations sent only once to the Law School Admission Council. LSAC summarizes and combines that information with LSAT scores and writing samples into a report, which is sent to an applicant's prospective law schools. The applicant's fee for this service also covers electronic application processing for all ABA-approved law schools.

Nearly all ABA-approved law schools and many other schools require the use of the Credential Assembly Service for JD applicants. Applicants who have studied for more than one academic year outside the US or Canada can use this service for transcript authentication and evaluation, if required by the law schools to which they apply.

The LLM Credential Assembly Service is also offered by LSAC to simplify the application process for eligible graduates of universities or law schools outside of the United States who wish to obtain an LLM degree from a participating American Bar Association-approved law school. The LLM Credential Assembly Service provides an efficient and convenient way to apply to multiple programs. International applicants obtain and submit official school documents only once to LSAC for analysis and authentication; the authenticated documents are forwarded to all participating law schools to which the applicant applies. This service also includes a searchable database of the many LLM programs offered by an increasing number of law schools.

The Candidate Referral Service makes information about law school candidates available to law schools. This service enables law schools to contact potential candidates who might not previously have considered applying to those schools. It also lets potential applicants hear from law schools that might be interested in receiving their applications if they possess particular characteristics specified by the law schools, relating to LSAT score, grade-point average, age, citizenship, and racial/ethnic and geographic background. Applicants can choose to release such information when they create an account with LSAC for any purpose, including registering for the LSAT, the Credential Assembly Service, or a law school forum, or purchasing publications from LSAC. The CRS makes use of descriptive information on file to service both the law school and the law school applicant in this mutually productive way.

Prospective law students nationwide receive an open invitation to meet with representatives of LSAC-member law schools at one- or two-day forums held in cities throughout the Untied States each year. Typically, attendees may spend anywhere from a few hours to an entire day at a forum. This is a place where law school representatives and law school candidates can meet face to face or participate in workshops on essential admission topics.

The Law School Admission Council is committed to the idea that the legal profession should reflect the ever-increasing diversity of our society. Because of this firm belief, LSAC makes resources available to advocate for and promote broad-based diversity in legal education and the legal profession. Through these efforts, LSAC seeks to ensure that legal education and the profession are as inclusive as possible.

Programs and initiatives are created and funded to increase the number of lawyers from racial and ethnic groups, LGBT, and others underrepresented in the legal profession. This is accomplished by working with other populations that contribute to the diversity of the profession; awarding grants for projects approved by the Board of Trustees; overseeing expenditures from the LSAC Diversity Fund; conducting training workshops for diversity officers and others charged with the responsibility for assisting students from diverse backgrounds; conducting workshops for law school academic assistance faculty and staff; sponsoring educational programs at law school forums and other recruitment events; and collaborating with bar associations, education associations, and community organizations with the mission of increasing opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds.

LSAC publishes a variety of materials to help prospective law students make decisions about their education. For a complete listing of all of our publications, including online ordering options, visit the Shop section of this website.