Purdue Global Law School (formerly Concord Law School and Concord University School of Law), is an online law school based in Los Angeles, California. It is one of several schools within Purdue University Global.[2] Established in 1998, Purdue Global Law was the United States' first fully online law school. The school is approved by the State Bar of California, but it is not accredited by the American Bar Association, making graduates ineligible to take the bar exam in most states other than California.[3]
In October 1998, 33 students began the online program.[4] As part of the revolving door between the ABA and start up law schools, Concord hired Barry Currier from 2004 to 2010 as Dean of the law school.[5] The merger of Concord into Kaplan University in late 2007 made Concord the first online law school to be part of a regionally accredited university.[6][7] As the first fully online law school in the United States, the concept of Concord initially drew criticism from the legal establishment, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.[8] In June 2016, Martin Pritikin, Harvard Law School magna cum laude graduate, joined Purdue Global Law as its dean.[9] In March 2018, Purdue University bought Kaplan University to make a nonprofit institution and a new online university called Purdue University Global. The for-profit Kaplan Higher Education still has a 30-year contract to serve Purdue Global.[10] After an initial enrollment decline at Purdue Global Law by approximately 65 percent between 2014 and 2020, the school's enrollment has grown after earning California Bar Accreditation in 2020.[11]
As of September 2023, Purdue Law had approximately 830 students. In 2020, ~65% of students were in the JD bar-qualifying program and ~35% of students were in the non-qualifying Executive JD program. Student diversity in ethnicity, gender, and support for persons with disabilities is a priority at Purdue Law, with the 2019 student cohort composed of approximately 20% African American, 12% Latinx, 6% Asian or Pacific Islander, 20% not identifying, and 40% White. [12] According to the California Committee of Bar Examiners, Purdue Law has "'significant attrition with voluntary withdrawals' of up to 45% and involuntary dismissals of up to 35% in the first semester."[13]
In August 2020, Purdue Global Law received approval by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California,[14][15] allowing JD graduates to immediately take the California bar exam or Indiana bar exam (effective July 1, 2024).[16] As a result, graduates of Purdue Global Law are eligible for licensure to practice law in two states (Wisconsin and North Carolina) immediately upon receiving their law license in California. However, for 19 other U.S jurisdictions, Purdue Global Law graduates are eligible for practice after a certain number of years of licensed practice has been reached. Yet, in 31 other jurisdictions a Purdue Global Law graduate is not typically eligible for licensure.[3] Some states (Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, and Texas[17]) will allow a Purdue Global Law graduate to be licensed under limited circumstances. Purdue Global itself is accredited by Higher Learning Commission.[18]
Purdue Global Law graduates' bar pass rate for the February 2023 California bar exam was 62% for first-time takers and 25% for those repeating the exam. Purdue Global Law graduates' first-time takers exceeded both California's all first-time bar exam takers (45%) and American Bar Association (ABA) accredited law school graduates' (49%) bar passage rates.[1]
Purdue Global Law is listed as one of the best online J.D. Programs according to the Princeton Review.[19] Purdue Global Law is not ranked by the U.S. News & World Report.
Of the 160 schools that reported their gainful employment numbers, Purdue Global Law was too small to have its gainful employment rate (GEE) published by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.[20] However, according to Purdue Global Law's own survey, 53% of graduates had gainful employment where a Juris Doctor degree was required.[21]
Although salary data have not been published for Purdue Global Law, another online law school (Taft Law School) was found by the Wall Street Journal to have an acceptable return on investment wherein the income gained from earning the degree exceeded the student debt used to finance it.[22]
Purdue Global Law lists 64 faculty: five deans, eight professors, and fifty-two adjuncts.[23]
Purdue Global Law offers two law degrees: the Juris Doctor (JD) degree and the Executive Juris Doctor (EJD) degree. Recipients of the JD degree who pass the California Bar Examination and otherwise meet the California State Bar requirements are admitted to the bar and can practice law in California. California bar licensees may practice in most federal courts outside of California and may work as in-house counsel in out-of-state corporations, among other roles.
The JD program is a 92-unit, four-year program, which has a total estimated cost of $49,680. [24] Students are required to complete at least 22-24 units of coursework between 48 and 52 consecutive weeks each year. Graduates of this program meet the legal education requirement of the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California and may apply for admission to the State Bar of California.[25]
The EJD is a 72-unit, three-year program. Recipients of this degree are not eligible to take the bar examination.[26] The EJD degree is intended for professionals who want to gain legal skills for careers in arbitration, contracts, policy, governance, privacy, and regulatory areas without becoming an attorney. [27] The degree stirred controversy, with Buzzfeed News reporting that students were misled into thinking the degree would allow them to practice as attorneys. Higher education experts raised concerns about the value of the degree, saying it was misleading for students.[28]
In November 2008, Ross Mitchell, a 2004 Purdue Global Law JD graduate who had been admitted to the California bar, won a lawsuit to take the Massachusetts bar exam, which is normally only open to graduates of ABA-accredited law schools. The court ruled on equitable grounds, noting that under the ABA standards it would have been impossible for Purdue Global Law to have received accreditation, regardless of the quality of its educational offerings, because of its entirely online instruction.[29][30]