Proposed Amendments to Unaccredited Law School Guideline 2.3 re Disclosure Forms

PLEASE NOTE:  Publication for public comment is not, and shall not, be construed as a recommendation or approval by the Board of Trustees of the materials published

SUBJECT:

Proposed Amendments to Unaccredited Law School Guideline 2.3 re Disclosure Forms

BACKGROUND

On July 22, 2016, Governor Brown signed into law Senate Bill  no. 1281, a copy of which may be accessed at:

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1281

The bill amended section 6061.7 of the California Business and Professions Code to require law schools operating in California that are not approved by  the American Bar Association (ABA), to disclose information about their law schools in a standard report, which must be posted on their respective  websites. The new law covers both California-accredited law schools (CALS) and unaccredited law schools registered by the Committee of Bar Examiners (Committee). Under section 6061.7, the law schools must post on their websites the following information: admissions data; tuition, fees and financial aid, conditional scholarships; enrollment data, the number of full-time faculty members, librarians and administrators, the average class size of required courses and clinical offerings, employment outcomes for graduates and bar passage data. In addition to these disclosures, law schools must also disclose on their websites their current enrollment, tuition refund policy, curricular offerings, academic calendar, academic requirements and policy regarding transfer credit earned at another law school. They must also make most of this information “accessible to current and prospective  students” in what the law refers to as a “standardized information report” for which “The State Bar may create a standardized information report template.”

The new law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2017.

ANY KNOWN FISCAL/PERSONNEL IMPACT:

None

ATTACHMENT:

Proposed Amendments to Guideline 2.3 for Unaccredited Law School Rules

SOURCE:

Committee of Bar Examiners

DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS:

Nov. 28, 2016

DIRECT COMMENTS TO:

Deanna Chinn
The State Bar of California
180 Howard St.
San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: 415-538-2548
Fax: 415-538-2304
Deanna.Chinn@calbar.ca.gov