GOVERNOR SIGNS BLOCK BILL REQUIRING MORE DISCLOSURES BY NON-ABA ACCREDITED LAW SCHOOLS

East County News Service

July 24, 2016 (San Diego) -- Law schools that are not accredited by the American Bar Association would be required to post more information about tuition costs, class sizes, number of faculty, bar passage rate and employment outcomes for their students under a bill by Senator Marty Block (D-San Diego) and approved this week today by the governor.

“SB 1281 is an important consumer bill that will help students better understand the quality and the possible long term impact of their law school choice,” Block said.

Under ABA Standard 509, ABA-accredited law schools already post on their web sites the information that would be required for disclosure under SB 1281 as well as information about their demographics, grants and scholarships awarded, student Grade Point Averages and Law School Admissions Test scores, curriculum, attrition rates and faculty. SB 1281 would now require that same level of transparency for non-ABA accredited law schools.

“My proposal closely parallels ABA Standard 509, and it gives students a valuable tool in making valid and accurate comparisons between schools,” Block said. “Law school is a tremendous undertaking of time and money. Information and transparency keeps that investment from becoming a nightmare.”

SB 1281 enjoyed unanimous, bi-partisan support in both houses of the legislature. It is supported by the Association of California Accredited Law Schools (CALS), the Center for Public Interest Law, Public Advocates, the Public Law Center and others.