What Counts as an ABA-Approved Online JD?

The Council of the American Bar Association’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar is the accreditor the U.S. Department of Education recognizes for JD programs, including programs offered through distance education. You will see “ABA-accredited” and “ABA-approved” used interchangeably; the ABA’s own term is “approved.” Graduating from an ABA-approved law school is what makes you eligible to sit for the bar exam across the country.

Under the current ABA Standards, a law school may deliver up to half of a JD’s required credits through distance education on its own. To go beyond that, or to run a separate online or hybrid division, it needs the Council’s formal permission, called acquiescence. The ABA lists every approved program on its Distance Education J.D. Programs page. As of September 22, 2026, that list names 22 law schools, with Suffolk holding two separate approvals.

The ABA does not accredit law schools that exist only online, so every program here belongs to a law school with a physical campus. That is why many of them bring students to campus for residencies, and why a school’s reputation, faculty, and bar results carry over to its online students.

All 24 ABA-Approved Online and Hybrid JD Programs (2026)

The table below covers every program, grouped by format. Select a school to jump to its full profile, which includes program length, school-wide bar passage from the 2026 ABA reports, and a link to the official program page.

Programs at UNLV and Rutgers are ABA-approved and enroll their first classes in 2027. Weekend programs at Seton Hall, Denver, Touro, and Santa Clara are covered below but are not counted, because they are not ABA distance-education programs.

Fully Online JD Programs: No Required Campus Visits

These eight programs can be completed without ever setting foot on campus. They are the best fit if you cannot travel regularly, although several still encourage an in-person orientation or offer optional short courses.

Hybrid JD Programs: Online Classes Plus Short Residencies

These 16 programs deliver most of their coursework online but require some time on campus. The commitment varies more than the “hybrid” label suggests: Vermont requires two short residencies over the whole degree, Dayton four weekend intensives, Lincoln Memorial 13 long weekends, and Suffolk’s Hybrid Online JD a full first year in Boston. Budget for travel when you compare costs.

Weekend JD Programs With an Online Component

These part-time programs at ABA-approved law schools mix online work with regular in-person weekends, but they are not on the ABA’s distance-education list. They are worth knowing about if you live within driving distance, want a predictable weekend schedule, or need to stay within New York’s distance-education limits.

Why Some Schools Are Not on This List

Duquesne University. Duquesne no longer appears on the ABA’s distance-education JD list; ABA notices mark its approval as withdrawn as of August 2026. Its part-time evening program now meets in person, with Zoom allowed for some sessions and all exams on campus.

California-accredited online law schools. Schools such as Purdue Global Law School are accredited by the State Bar of California’s Committee of Bar Examiners, not the ABA. Their graduates generally cannot sit for the bar outside California, so they are not ABA-approved online JDs.

Schools with online courses but no online JD. Several law schools, including Georgia, Indiana Maurer, FIU, North Dakota, and Roger Williams, have ABA permission to offer a large share of their courses online but do not run a separate online JD track, so their students still attend in person.

Commuter hybrids. A number of law schools run hybrid evening programs that still meet on campus every week. They are built for local commuters rather than students who live far away, so we leave them off.

Pending approvals. St. Thomas University in Florida has an application for a part-time hybrid JD pending with the ABA. We will add programs as the ABA approves them.

How the ABA’s Online JD Rules Changed

Online JD programs grew out of a decade of incremental rule changes and school-by-school exceptions. The key milestones, drawn from the ABA Standards and the schools’ own records:

1. Before August 2014: ABA rules allowed at most 12 credits of distance education, none in a student's first 28 credits.
2. December 2013: The ABA granted William Mitchell College of Law, now Mitchell Hamline, a variance for the first hybrid JD. Its first class started in January 2015.
3. August 2014: The cap rose to 15 credits.
4. 2018: Syracuse (February) and Dayton (May) received variances for hybrid JDs that launched in 2019. In August, the cap became one-third of JD credits, with no more than 10 in the first third of the program.
5. 2020: Pandemic variances let nearly every law school teach remotely, and the ABA began treating distance-education JD programs as a substantive change that requires the Council's acquiescence.
6. May 2021: The ABA approved St. Mary's fully online JD, which launched in fall 2022.
7. August 2023: The limit rose to one-half of JD credits, and the first-year restriction was dropped.
8. Fall 2024: Southwestern launched the first full-time, fully online JD.
9. February 2026: A new ABA definition took effect: a distance-education course is one delivered entirely by distance methods.
10. 2026: The ABA approved new programs at UNLV and Rutgers, both starting in 2027.

The growth has been fast. The ABA counted 7 schools with approved online or substantially hybrid JDs in February 2022, 13 in February 2023, 19 in January 2025, and 21 in January 2026, and its list shows 22 today. According to the ABA’s February 2026 distance-education report, 1,041 first-year students enrolled in these programs in 2025, up 10.9% from 939 the year before, and applications jumped 42% to 13,845 in the 2024-25 cycle.

Can You Take the Bar Exam With an Online JD?

In most states, yes. Every U.S. jurisdiction accepts graduates of ABA-approved law schools, and the Department of Education’s recognition of the ABA covers JD programs offered through distance education. The exceptions come from state rules that limit how much of a law degree can be earned online.

New York

New York’s Rule 520.3 counts no more than 15 credit hours of distance education toward bar eligibility, and none earned before a student completes 28 credits. The Court of Appeals updated the rule in May 2024 but kept both limits, and the New York State Board of Law Examiners says degrees earned through distance study do not qualify beyond that provision. Graduates of programs that exceed the limits must petition the Court for a waiver. Syracuse reports that every JDinteractive graduate who petitioned through April 2026 was approved, but approval is not automatic. Southwestern does not enroll online students who live in New York at all.

Alabama and other states

Several schools also flag Alabama. Cleveland State, Lincoln Memorial, Northeastern, Rutgers, Suffolk, and Vermont all mention it, and Vermont points to a resident-student requirement Alabama adopted in January 2026. Cleveland State also lists West Virginia, and Suffolk’s catalog names New Hampshire. The NCBE Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements is a useful starting point, but the definitive answer comes from the bar examiners in the state where you plan to practice. Ask each school for its written bar eligibility statement before you enroll.

How Much Does an Online JD Cost?

Online does not automatically mean cheaper. Several schools, including Southwestern, Seattle, and Detroit Mercy, charge online students their standard rates, and published tuition for a full online JD ranges from under $90,000 to more than $240,000. For programs that price by the credit, here is the estimated tuition for the whole degree at 2026-27 rates:

Programs that publish annual or per-semester rates instead: South Texas $32,040 a year (part-time), Western New England $38,940 a year plus a $1,440 fee, Southwestern $43,810 a year part-time, Loyola Chicago $45,970 a year, Suffolk $49,230 a year part-time, Northeastern $50,952 a year, Albany $59,898 for its 11-month year, Mitchell Hamline $20,670 per part-time semester, St. Mary’s $15,230 per semester, and Ohio Northern $1,535 per credit. UNLV’s 2026-27 part-time rates are $1,185 per credit for Nevada residents and $1,729 for nonresidents; Rutgers charges its part-time per-credit rate by residency.

Sticker price is rarely what students pay. Arizona State gives every admitted online student a partial merit scholarship, and most law schools award merit aid largely on test scores and GPA, which is why a higher LSAT, GRE, or JD-Next score can be worth thousands of dollars.

Do Online JD Programs Require the LSAT? GRE and JD-Next Options

Online programs use the same admissions tests as traditional JDs, but policies vary more than most applicants expect:

• Accept JD-Next in place of the LSAT: Arizona State (LSAT or JD-Next only, no GRE), Case Western Reserve, Dayton, Seattle, Suffolk, and Western New England. Denver’s weekend program also accepts it, and St. Mary’s accepts JD-Next as a supplement to the LSAT.
• Accept the GRE: Albany, Case Western Reserve, Cleveland State, Dayton, Hawaiʻi, Lincoln Memorial, Ohio Northern, Seattle, South Texas, Suffolk, Syracuse, and UNH.
• Require the LSAT: Detroit Mercy, Loyola Chicago, Mitchell Hamline, St. Mary’s, and Vermont. Northeastern and Southwestern list only the LSAT on their program pages.
• Not yet published: UNLV and Rutgers had not posted test policies for their new programs as of this update.

Cleveland State and Syracuse appear on our list of law schools that accept JD-Next, but their online program pages list only the LSAT or GRE, so confirm with admissions before you apply. New to JD-Next? Start with our complete guide to the JD-Next exam, then take the free JD-Next practice test to see where you stand. ConnectPrep also offers one-on-one JD-Next prep and LSAT tutoring, and our GRE prep helps with GRE-accepting programs.

How to Choose an Online JD Program: 5 Questions to Ask

1. Where will you take the bar?

Start with the state where you want to practice. If it is New York or Alabama, narrow your list to programs whose graduates are eligible there, or plan for a waiver. Every school on this list publishes a bar eligibility statement or will provide one on request.

2. How much campus time can you really manage?

Fully online programs require none. Hybrids range from two short residencies at Vermont to 13 long weekends at Lincoln Memorial and a full year in Boston for Suffolk’s hybrid. Add flights, hotels, and time off work to your cost comparison.

3. Do you want live classes or self-paced work?

Arizona State and Detroit Mercy are mostly self-paced, with limited live sessions. UNLV’s classes are all live on weekday evenings, Suffolk’s remote classes are mostly live, and Syracuse splits its online classes evenly between live and self-paced. Choose the rhythm that fits your job and family.

4. What will it actually cost?

Multiply the per-credit rate by the required credits, then add fees, residency travel, and bar prep. Compare offers after scholarships, not sticker prices, and ask whether aid renews each year.

5. What outcomes can the program show?

Most online programs are too new to report their own bar results, so the figures in each profile are school-wide numbers from the 2026 ABA reports. Ask each program for cohort-level data, and review its employment and bar passage reports in the ABA Required Disclosures database.

Frequently Asked Questions

How We Built This List

We started with the ABA’s Distance Education J.D. Programs list on September 22, 2026, added programs that operate under separate ABA approvals, and then verified each program’s format, residency requirements, length, tuition, and test policy against the school’s own website. Tuition reflects published 2026-27 rates unless noted. Bar passage figures come from each school’s ABA-required disclosure report and are school-wide, not specific to the online program, unless we say otherwise. We update this page when the ABA approves a new program or a school changes its format or pricing.

Sources

1. American Bar Association, Distance Education J.D. Programs (accessed September 22, 2026)
2. ABA Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools, 2026-2027, Chapter 3 (Standard 306)
3. ABA Section of Legal Education, distance education report, February 2026
4. ABA public notices of substantive change (acquiescence) decisions
5. U.S. Department of Education, recognized programmatic accrediting agencies
6. New York Court of Appeals, Rules for the Admission of Attorneys and Counselors at Law, Section 520.3
7. New York State Board of Law Examiners, eligibility requirements
8. National Conference of Bar Examiners, Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements
9. ABA Journal, "Mythbusters: What do we really know about online law schools?" (January 15, 2025)
10. ABA Required Disclosures (Standard 509 and bar passage reports)
11. Official program pages for each school, linked in each profile above.