Most individuals consider the Regulation College Admission Council because the nerds who write the LSAT. The oldsters that needed to be dragged kicking and screaming from forcing one other era to reply questions like “if Peter is taller than Nancy however shorter than Steve, what coloration is Sally’s shirt?” However a newly filed antitrust class motion, appears to be like past the LSAT and accuses the group of skimming charges prefer it’s operating the one ATM in Vegas.
Again within the day, potential legislation college students took the LSAT after which bundled up their very own legislation college functions. As of late, LSAC isn’t simply operating the take a look at, it’s helpfully working because the clearinghouse for everybody’s functions. Ship in your supplies and choose your faculties and LSAC tackles the remaining.
Besides that course of is pricey and, in accordance the the grievance filed within the Jap District of Pennsylvania, a rent-seeking affair extracting money from potential legislation college students by advantage of being the one sport on the town.
“In 2025, greater than 60,000 aspiring legislation college students submitted greater than 500,000 functions to legislation faculties,” the grievance begins. “Most paid software charges to colleges that value as much as $105 per college.” However wait! This doesn’t embrace the “Credential Meeting Service,” LSAC’s software clearinghouse. Earlier than the coed even will get to the $105 for the varsity, they should shell out “a $215 obligatory subscription price and a $45 per report price” to LSAC.
Which looks like so much for one thing branded as mere “Meeting.” For a typical applicant making use of to 10 faculties, that’s over $600 straight to LSAC, earlier than a single admissions dean has the prospect to passive-aggressively reject you. At the very least the varsity is theoretically charging to allow them to pay these admissions deans a number of multiples greater than the precise school. Against this, $600 feels excessive for a glorified “ahead e mail” button. In truth, undergraduate admissions run on an identical clearinghouse system that costs faculties a $2,500 flat price per 12 months, about 4 bucks per software and a $2.00 fee processing price — the candidates solely pay the varsity’s personal price.
That’s the form of apples to apples comparability that raises a minimum of just a few competitiveness questions. On the opposite facet of equation, enterprise faculties don’t have any clearinghouse in any respect and whereas that will increase the prices related to every particular person college, probably the most aggressive faculties are nonetheless solely charging round $250 with most coming in far, far decrease.
In line with its public tax filings, LSAC collected $93 million in Credential Meeting Service charges over simply the final three reported years. LSAC boasts round $250 million in web belongings and a CEO making over $1 million a 12 months. It appears daring to pay hedge-fund cash to ahead a resume.
LSAC is a separate authorized entity from the Member Regulation Colleges. LSAC has conspired together with the Member Regulation Colleges to repair the worth of those charges for its Regulation College Software Platform. LSAC advantages from the supracompetitive earnings it earns from the price-fixed charges, utilizing that to construct up greater than $250 million in web belongings, pay its executives lavishly for a nonprofit, and kickback cash to the Member Regulation Colleges.
Candidates have little selection as a result of LSAC runs the whole lot. And because the faculties get LSAC’s back-end “Unite” admissions platform at no cost, they don’t have any incentive to buy round or cross on financial savings. Everybody wins!
Besides, the grievance argues, the candidates.
(Grievance on the subsequent web page…)
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Regulation and co-host of Considering Like A Lawyer. Be happy to e mail any ideas, questions, or feedback. Comply with him on Twitter or Bluesky for those who’re eager about legislation, politics, and a wholesome dose of faculty sports activities information. Joe additionally serves as a Managing Director at RPN Govt Search.
