Law Schools

Law School On Probation To Close Campus, Move To Office Building

What's a law school that's struggling financially to do?

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Bye-bye, building. (Photo via Thomas Jefferson School of Law)

Thomas Jefferson School of Law is like a gift that keeps on giving — not to its students, of course, but to those who follow news about the highs and oh-so lows of legal education. Back in November, the American Bar Association finally took action against the school that started the law school litigation trend over allegedly deceptive employment statistics, placing TJSL on probation for being out of compliance with numerous standards required to maintain accreditation, but for today’s purposes, we’ll focus on the school’s reportedly insufficient financial resources. On that note, this past winter, sources told us that the law school was experiencing financial troubles due to its reduced enrollment, which supposedly left the school’s administration unable to afford the rent at its beautiful building, once ranked as the third most impressive school building in the country.

What’s a law school that’s struggling financially to do?

Thomas Jefferson is trying to put a rosy spin on things with its “Moving Forward” plan, which involves rightsizing, reallocating, and repositioning — buzzwords that sound so positive they’ll almost make you forget that the school performed the worst in the entire state when it came to passing the July 2017 California bar exam. Sources now tell us that TJSL is attempting to rightsize, reallocate, and reposition, all in one fell swoop by… moving the law school into an office building.

As announced in a press release earlier this week, the Thomas Jefferson School of Law is moving its campus to 701 B Street, a building with “striking architecture, best-in-class amenities, and an impressive lobby.” Nothing will woo prospective students with a 23.6 percent chance of landing a full-time, long-term job as an attorney more than an impressive lobby. Plus, check out that swanky Bank of America sign.

(Photo via 701B.com)

This is how Thomas Jefferson Law, which now claims to have a “debt-free balance sheet,” describes the move to its new home in a 24-story office building:

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The new campus move will help the Law School complete other critical steps in the Moving Forward plan that will drive the school forward, shifting resources from rent to maximize investment in students and the academic program.

Reduced footprint and overhead will empower the Law School to reallocate funds to provide scholarship opportunities for students – including the Law School’s comprehensive and guaranteed scholarship awards, some of which include full tuition and housing grants.

Additionally, the new campus’ Class-A building aligns with the Law School’s student-first vision and its commitment to providing an even more meaningful and engaged learning environment. Repositioning with smaller classes will afford students more one-on-one attention and support from faculty and administration, helping better prepare students for the practice of law from their first year through graduation.

That’s all well and good, but considering the fact that the average indebtedness of class of 2017 graduates was $198,962 (the highest of all law schools that reported debt figures to U.S. News) and the vast majority of them were unable to pass the bar exam or find jobs, we’d suggest lowering tuition as part of that “student-first vision.”

Best of luck to Thomas Jefferson School of Law in its new building, because the school may need it. Hopefully this campus move will be enough to sort out at least one of its accreditation problems, but a new location certainly won’t stop the administration from admitting students with subpar entering statistics, now will it.

(Flip to the next page to see the TJSL press release in full.)

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