Concord to Become Purdue Global Law School

Purdue University Global petitioned the Indiana Supreme Court for permission for graduates of its RA, non-ABA, Calbar-accredited Concord Law School to sit the Indiana bar exam.

The court struck a working group, who released a report this February 15. The report identified pros and cons of accepting PG's request, and "recommended proposals that the Court may want to adopt as a condition to approving the request."

One recommended proposal was to "Require Concord Law School to change its name to Purdue University Global Law School. This change will maintain Purdue’s incentive to devote substantial resources to the law school because its outstanding reputation for academic excellence will be on the line. And Concord would more visibly be seen as 'part' of Purdue."

Using a slightly different name that seems to me to materially meet that expectation, Purdue Global's trustees voted August 4 to rename the school Purdue Global Law School, effective November.

 

It would be really interesting if Purdue University Global Campus' Law School will achieve ABA accreditation since ABA is starting heading to that direction. However, ABA has never accredited solely online school; so the chance is still slim.

 

Seems like a pretty good deal for Purdue! I read the entire report and like the idea of specialty training for solo practice too.

I have tried asking numerous times if the LawShelf courses could be counted towards the JD program at Concord. I never seem to get an answer on that though. Although, the "accreditations and affiliations" page states:

"Up to 26 credits earned at National Juris University, the graduate division of National Paralegal College, are accepted by Concord Law School, the fully online law school of Purdue University Global, a public nonprofit institution, toward an Executive Juris Doctor degree. This degree is suited to those who want the knowledge and skills of a lawyer but do not aspire to practice law."​

Reading between the lines of their unwillingness to answer the question, and the way that the accreditation page is stated, I would guess the law shelf courses can be counted towards the EJD program but not the JD program.

 

Concord Law isn't ABA approved but it still has CalBar breathing down its neck. CalBar is getting stricter as time goes by.

 

The standards now include a minimum 40% cumulative Bar pass rate which while much less strict than the ABA standard is a new thing for CalBar and is already causing some schools problems. There are also detailed rest

 

rictions on accepting transfer credit.

 

There's always a first. Columbia Southern University is SACSCOC's first fully online accredited institution.

 

Besides, what about that U. Hawaii thing? It's 100% D/L and ABA approved isn't it?

 

Yes, but the tuition is unbearable. I think $172,000.00 for non-resident student, and $84,000.00 Hawaii resident student. That is based on 90 credits JD program, but I could not find the number of requirement credit. While Purdue University Global Campus (PUGC) Law School (FKA Concord Law School) costs only $50,000.00

Reference: https://law.hawaii.edu/admissions/tuition/

 

Concord hasn't presented at least 11 students for first time Bar attempts in the last few years so we don't have the pass rate. I would be very surprised if they came anywhere the ABA'S minimum though.

 

Meanwhile 80-90% of all graduates of ABA schools inside and outside of California pass on their first attempt.

 

Nope that is not true: February 2023 Bar overall rates Alabama 31%, California 33%, Idaho 36%, Delaware 33% etc., more like 50% for first timers:

https://www.ncbex.org/statistics-research/bar-exam-results-jurisdiction

 

Look at the results from the July 2022 exam under ABA accredited schools.

 

Can there be situation where there are two schools on is ABA and one Cal Bar under the same umbrella?

 

Everyone knows Cal non ABA law schools are a long shot that still is not reason to limit options. The numbers are publicly accessible. A law student can pass the Cal bar if they put enough time and effort into it. It is not an intelligence test, the answers are known and the essays are not finite either. If a non ABA student has passed the Cal First Year Bar Exam, they should be able to pass the final bar if they spent enough time and effort. In most cases, students fail not because they are unable to do the work but because they lack the time to study and fail to make the effort.

 

You would think so, wouldn’t you but the stats clearly show otherwise. Graduates of non accredited California law schools fare very poorly on the general Bar exam even though they passed the Baby Bar.

 

I’m not a California lawyer but I understand that the California legal profession is governed by statute and not by Supreme Court rule. Unusual. Anyway the California Code
forbids limiting law schools to those accredited by the Bar Association or the ABA.

I have heard rumors from time to time that the California Bar would like to outright forbid any law school from operating without ABA provisional or full accreditation.

Take all of this with salt. I may be wrong or out of date.

 

I don't know how it is today, but back when the state had a 3-tier system, it was quite common for "Authorized" schools--which went through no evaluative processes at all--to offer law degrees. In fact, they typically offered two: a 4-year, Bar-qualifying course and a 3-year "executive" non-Bar course.

The Bar-qualifying students had to pass the Baby Bar after their first year of study to proceed to the other three. But the non-Bar students could just plow on through and "earn" a JD.

These schools (and there were a couple dozen of them at one point) were really squirrely all over their operations, but it was interesting that you could start and run a law school with zero accountability.

 

Concord Law School still have the non bar Executive JD program.

 

That’s why the Baby Bar exists. It is a rather brutal consumer protection device though its usefulness has been watered down. Originally the student could not continue into the second year without passing the exam. Now you can and if you pass by the third administration all the additional study will count. Basically you can complete the second year.