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Key Facts
- National overview: ABA Standard 509(a) requires information a law school reports, publicizes, or distributes to be complete, accurate, and not misleading to a reasonable law school student or applicant.
- National overview: ABA employment outcomes measure the post-graduation status of law graduates on March 15 (or the following Monday when March 15 falls on a weekend), about 10 months after spring graduation.
- National overview: Under ABA Interpretation 509-2, law schools may publicize additional employment outcome data if the information complies with Standard 509(a).
- National overview: A Bar Examiner article describes that the ABA House of Delegates approved amendments to Standard 509 in August 2012, and it describes the revisions to Standard 509 as effective immediately.
- National overview: The same Bar Examiner PDF quotes a Standard 509 posting requirement that employment outcomes must be posted on a law school’s website each year by March 31 (or another Council-established date).
- Federal level: Federal regulation 34 CFR 668.43 requires institutions to include placement-rate information in their institutional and programmatic information if the institution’s accrediting agency or State requires calculating and reporting a placement rate.
- National overview: ABA’s Required Disclosures framework includes individual law school PDF reports and national compilation spreadsheets for 509 Required Disclosures and Graduate Employment Data.
- National overview: NCES describes IPEDS as a system of 12 interrelated annual survey components that gathers data from colleges, universities, and technical and vocational institutions participating in federal student financial aid programs.
Last reviewed: May 2026. Legal rules, forms, deadlines, and procedures can change by jurisdiction, agency, and court system.
- Why law graduate employment data reforms mattered in 2012
- What ABA Standard 509 requires for employment disclosures
- How ABA describes the employment outcomes timing
- Standard 509(a) and Interpretation 509 2
- Where ABA’s employment disclosures are published
- Federal disclosure rules and placement rate information under 34 CFR 668.43
- Federal postsecondary outcomes through IPEDS Outcome Measures
- Federal vs ABA what each system is measuring
- Where state requirements can matter, but vary
- How the 2012 amendments fit into today’s disclosure conversation
- Sources
Why law graduate employment data reforms mattered in 2012
Employment outcomes became a visible part of law school transparency discussions, and ABA Standard 509 targets how schools present employment-related information to prospective students and current students. The Bar Examiner later described how the ABA House of Delegates approved amendments to Standard 509 in August 2012, including transparency expectations tied to ongoing publication of employment outcomes.
What ABA Standard 509 requires for employment disclosures
ABA describes Standard 509(a) as requiring that all information a law school reports, publicizes, or distributes be “complete, accurate and not misleading to a reasonable law school student or applicant.” In the employment-outcomes framework described in ABA materials, this standard functions as the baseline quality expectation for the employment information law schools publish.
How ABA describes the employment outcomes timing
ABA describes each year’s employment outcomes as measuring post-graduation status on March 15 (or the following Monday when March 15 falls on a weekend), approximately 10 months after spring graduation.
The Bar Examiner PDF reproducing Standard 509 language also describes a publication timing concept: it quotes a requirement that employment outcomes “shall be posted on the school’s website each year by March 31 or such other date as the Council may establish.”
Standard 509(a) and Interpretation 509 2
ABA also explains that Standard 509(a)’s complete, accurate, and not-misleading baseline applies to employment information law schools publish. In addition, ABA describes Interpretation 509-2 as permitting law schools to publicize additional employment outcome data, as long as the additional information complies with Standard 509(a).
A practical takeaway from ABA’s description is that “additional” data does not replace the standard’s accuracy, completeness, and “not misleading” expectation.
Where ABA’s employment disclosures are published
ABA describes its Required Disclosures structure as the place where updated employment-related information appears. According to ABA’s Statistics page, ABA Required Disclosures includes individual law school PDF reports and national compilation spreadsheets on 509 Required Disclosures and Graduate Employment Data.
Federal disclosure rules and placement rate information under 34 CFR 668.43
Federal higher-education disclosure rules do not track ABA’s law-school-specific Standard 509 framework, but they can still drive what institutions make available in “institutional and programmatic information.” Under 34 CFR 668.43, institutional information must include placement-rate information if the institution’s accrediting agency or State requires the institution to calculate and report a placement rate.
This can create a category-level mismatch in everyday discussion: some disclosures may emphasize placement-rate information under federal institutional-information rules, while law schools also publish employment outcomes using the ABA-described Standard 509 framework.
Federal postsecondary outcomes through IPEDS Outcome Measures
NCES describes IPEDS as a system of 12 interrelated survey components conducted annually that gathers data from every college, university, and technical and vocational institution participating in federal student financial aid programs. For outcome measures, NCES describes IPEDS Outcome Measures (survey component 11) as a survey in which degree-granting institutions report outcomes, with award status measured at specific points in time.
Because IPEDS covers many kinds of institutions (not only law schools), it operates more like a broad federal outcomes data system than a law-school-only employment-outcomes disclosure framework.
Federal vs ABA what each system is measuring
| System | Who controls the framework | What it covers (as described by the sources) | Typical place the information appears |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABA Standard 509 (including 509(a) and Interpretation 509-2) | ABA materials describing law school disclosure expectations | Employment outcomes and other information law schools report, publicize, or distribute must be complete, accurate, and not misleading; employment outcomes use an annual March 15 measurement concept and a posting timing concept | ABA Required Disclosures materials, including individual PDFs and national compilation spreadsheets |
| Federal institutional information rule (34 CFR 668.43) | Federal regulation | Institutional and programmatic information must include placement-rate information when an accrediting agency or State requires calculating and reporting a placement rate | Institutional disclosures tied to institutional/programmatic information requirements |
| IPEDS Outcome Measures | NCES/IPEDS federal data collection | Degree-granting institutions report outcomes; award status is measured at specific points in time across participating institutions | NCES/IPEDS data resources |
Where state requirements can matter, but vary
34 CFR 668.43 explicitly refers to an institution’s accrediting agency or State requiring calculation and reporting of a placement rate, which affects whether placement-rate information becomes part of institutional information under the federal rule. Beyond that, state-specific consumer-protection or education-disclosure requirements can differ.
This varies by state.
How the 2012 amendments fit into today’s disclosure conversation
The 2012 transparency story matters because it ties together several elements that show up in later employment-data explanations: (1) an annual measurement concept for law graduate post-graduation status on March 15 (or the following Monday when March 15 falls on a weekend), (2) a website-posting expectation for employment outcomes by March 31 (or another Council-established date), and (3) a disclosure-quality concept that published information must be complete, accurate, and not misleading—along with an approach for adding additional data under Interpretation 509-2. The Bar Examiner PDF also reports that the ABA House of Delegates approved amendments to Standard 509 in August 2012 and described the revisions as effective immediately.
For additional context on how the ABA uses interpretations and standards in other legal-education-adjacent areas, see ABA ethics committee coverage on lawyer responsibilities.
Sources
- ABA Required Disclosures statistics overview
- ABA release on 2024 employment outcomes and Standard 509 requirements
- The Bar Examiner overview of Standard 509 transparency
- Bar Examiner PDF quoting Standard 509 posting and amendment timing
- 34 CFR 668.43 placement-rate information rule
- NCES IPEDS overview
- IPEDS Outcome Measures component 11
