The stand-alone Arizona Summit Law School may soon be part of a university.
Arizona Summit, previously known as Phoenix School of Law, is a part of The InfiLaw System, a group of three independent law schools. The school is now in “advanced negotiations” with a few universities for a potential affiliation.
“It will strengthen Summit’s reputation, make its program more affordable, reduce tuition dependency, result in stronger academic support systems and improved outcomes, enhance faculty and institutional development opportunities, create interdepartmental synergies, and significantly enhance the ability to achieve our mission of diversifying legal education and the legal profession,” said Don Lively, Summit’s president.
In a survey, 67 percent of students said they’d prefer attending a law school that’s part of a university system.
Dean Shirley Mays had previously told National Jurist that one of the benefits of being part of the InfiLaw consortium was being able to be nimble and implement change quickly.
Founded in 2005, Summit aims to graduate a diverse group of students who are practice-ready. Of its 789 students last year, just over one-third were African American or Hispanic.
The school offers full scholarships plus $5,000 in living expenses to students with an LSAT score of 150 or above. The program targets students who are members of historically or economically disadvantaged groups.
The school’s median GPA is 2.88 and the median LSAT is 143.
