By Michelle Weyenberg, associate managing editor for The National Jurist
When the announcement finally came this past August that Western State University in had received full ABA accreditation, it was cause for celebration and joy at the 43-year-old school in Fullerton, Calif.
“[Faculty] are energized and excited about doing new programs and thinking about moving forward,” said Dean William Adams. “We want to expand, and we can do that now.”
The wait for accreditation was a long one, and the school’s struggles with the American Bar Association, even longer.
Western State was the perhaps the first serious for-profit law school in the nation, and when it sought accreditation from a regional body in 1976, the ABA was threatened. Accreditation from a recognized agency would allow Western State students to participate in federal student-aid programs.
The ABA and the American Association of Law Schools both sought to boycott the accrediting team, according to Robert Stevens in his book, “Law School: Legal Education in America from the 1850s to the 1980s.”
Despite this, a team was formed and Western State received the regional accreditation. The law school then filed a complaint against the ABA with the Office of Education.
Maxwell Boas, then dean of the law school, argued that many university law schools were profitable but that the parent university siphoned off the profit, an argument that both hit home and undercut the ABA and Association of American Law Schools’ position.
That resulted in the ABA being served with an order to show cause why it should not cease to be recognized as an accrediting agency. With that, the ABA changed direction and formally allowed for-profit law schools to receive provisional accreditation.
But it was not until another legal battle in 1996, between Massachusetts School of Law and the ABA, that for-profit law schools could receive full accreditation.
At that time, Western State had three locations — Fullerton, Irvine and San Diego. The San Diego location was separated and its name changed to Thomas Jefferson School of Law. It was the first for-profit law school to receive provisional accreditation in 1996.
Western State next shut down its Irvine branch, and focused all of its energy on improving Fullerton.
But since that time, Western State’s biggest struggle has been low bar passage rates, said Dean William Adams Jr., who took over as dean in June after former dean Maryann Jones retired after 19 years.
The school first won provisional accreditation from the ABA in 1998 but did not secure full approval within the subsequent five years. In 2005, Western State was granted provisional accreditation by the ABA again, which allowed graduates to sit for the bar exam in states outside of California. Law schools have five years to achieve full accreditation after they win the ABA’s provisional designation, or else they must restart the accreditation process.
The faculty toughened their academic standards, increased the academic support system and provided reimbursement to students who took a Bar/Bri bar review course. As a result, the law school dramatically increased its bar passage rate for first-time takers in July 2008, exceeding 75 percent for the first time in its history.
In February 2009, the ABA visited the school to complete the reassessment for accreditation. And in June, Adams got a crash course in learning everything he could about the law school before his first meeting with the accrediting committee, which was three weeks into his first day as dean.
“Not only have we demonstrated our compliance with the high academic standards that have been set before us, but we also feel more confident than ever that our graduates will be well-prepared to serve the legal community with excellence and a deserving sense of pride,” Adams said.
The battle for accreditation
1976:
The American Bar Association blocks Western State’s attempts to become accredited with a regional accrediting agency.
1977:
Western State sues to allow accreditation of for-profit law schools. In the settlement, the ABA agrees not to enforce the standard, but the provision remains on the books.
April/May 1994:
Western State employs stricter grading policies. The new grading system, which most students consider “unfair,” is implemented as a response to the school’s declining bar passage rates.
October 1996:
New accreditation rules from the ABA allow for-profit schools like Thomas Jefferson to have provisional and eventually full accreditation. Notably, Thomas Jefferson was originally a branch of Western State.
September 1998:
Western State is awarded provisional accreditation. It is the second for-profit school to receive accreditation (Thomas Jefferson being the first).
January/February 2000:
Western State is recognized as a “Bar Exam loser” school, with a pass rate of only 48%.
January/February 2001:
A Chicago-based education company arranges to purchase Western State, pending the ABA’s approval on the change of ownership.
September 2004:
After reviewing the school’s five-year provisional accreditation period, the ABA recommends that Western’s provisional accreditation be rescinded. In response, Western State sues. The lawsuit is dismissed, but instead of extending Western State’s provisional period, the ABA makes the school reapply for accreditation.
February 2006:
It is reported that Western gained an extension of its provisional status and was scheduled to follow a three-year plan and move to full accreditation by early 2008.
February 2009:
The ABA visits Western’s campus to complete the reassessment for accreditation.
August 2009:
Western State is finally accredited!
