Conclusion
In 2022, 48 law schools were in operation that served over 17,000 students: 18 were ABA-approved schools, 18 were CALS, and 12 were unaccredited law schools. ABA-approved law schools were generally larger than CALS and unaccredited schools and, as a result, enrolled over two-thirds of all law students. These schools were also more expensive than CALS and unaccredited schools. On the other hand, students enrolled in ABA-approved schools have a significantly higher chance to obtain a JD degree and pass the bar exam.
ENROLLMENT TRENDS
Following national trends, JD enrollment at California's ABA-approved schools began to decline in 2010. By 2022, enrollment dropped by over 25 percent compared to 2009, despite just three schools losing their ABA accreditation.
Enrollment at unaccredited law schools declined even more so than at ABA-approved schools (over 80 percent since 2009). This decrease aligns with a 50 percent decline in unaccredited schools during this period, with three schools gaining accreditation and 19 schools permanently closing.
In contrast, enrollment at the CALS has more than doubled since 2009, coinciding with an increase in the number of schools in 2020 when three unaccredited schools gained accreditation and two schools that the ABA had previously approved converted to CALS.
KEY FINDINGS
The report’s analyses underscore the substantial obstacles students from unaccredited law schools face in their pursuit of becoming licensed attorneys.
Unaccredited law schools are the most affordable options for earning a JD, and their racial/ethnic and gender diversity reflect the state’s population better than the ABA-approved schools. However, more than half of their students will experience attrition before beginning their second year of law school, and a considerable portion of these students struggle to pass the FYLSX on their initial attempt. Students of color have higher attrition and lower bar exam passage rates than white students. Women who graduate from unaccredited schools also have lower bar passage rates than men. Finally, the small number who graduate from unaccredited schools with a JD encounter difficulties in passing the California bar exam on their first try to a vastly greater extent than those from the other two types of law schools.
The report also identified challenges students face at the CALS, including a 42 percent 1L attrition rate and bar exam pass rates significantly lower than those of ABA-approved schools.
Although these schools reflect California’s diverse population, and students of color receive more than half of all JDs awarded, this amounted to just 280 degrees in 2022 due to the schools’ smaller size and high attrition rates. Among all current licensees, only one percent earned their degree from a CALS.
Finally, the report illuminated the challenges some racial/ethnic groups face at the ABA-approved schools.
Although 1L attrition rates at ABA-approved schools are significantly lower than those at CALS and unaccredited schools, nearly one in five Native Hawaiian students leave law school after their first year, as do 15 percent of Black and 13 percent of American Indian students. Despite these racial disparities in attrition, the students who graduate from ABA-approved schools have better success in passing California’s bar exam on the first try, regardless of race/ethnicity, than students who graduate from a CALS or unaccredited school.
In conclusion, the analyses suggest that the current and future diversity of California’s attorney population is driven and will continue to be driven by ABA-approved schools despite their enrollment not fully reflecting the state’s diversity.[12]
ABA-approved schools in California serve more students, have lower attrition rates, and conferred 87 percent of the over 4,500 JDs awarded across all three types of law schools in 2022. Over 1,650 of those JDs were awarded to students of color, compared with 280 and 37 degrees awarded to students of color by the CALS and unaccredited, respectively. Finally, their graduates have greater success in passing California’s bar exam on the first try than graduates of CALS and unaccredited schools.
Note: Bar exam pass rates reflect total applicants who took the July 2022 exam.