Law Schools

Westcliff University ‘Delighted’ To Move Ahead with Acquiring Western State College Of Law

For-profit’s CEO speaks out about plan to purchase Orange County law school.

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Westcliff University had been mum for months about its planned purchase of embattled Western State College of Law, but that changed this week.

Dr. Anthony Lee, President and CEO of Westcliff, said his for-profit school is “delighted to welcome Western State into our family.”

Lee’s comments via a press release came in the aftermath of a federal judge in Ohio signing off on one Orange County institution purchasing another. The court proceedings were a result of Western State’s parent university being in receivership, and Lee cast the law school as a victim of its parent’s financial problems.

“The law school had been successful with very experienced management, faculty, and staff,” Lee said. “We would not have become involved except for that. Westcliff is fully committed to helping Western State recover from its entanglement in the receivership and begin enrolling new students as soon as possible.”

Westcliff University was founded in 1993 and is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC). Westcliff offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in business administration, information technology, and computer science.

Western State, an American Bar Association-accredited law school, was established in 1966 and is the oldest law school in Orange County.

Western State Dean Allen Easley has rarely engaged with the media about the events at the law school, but was quoted in the recent press release as expressing optimism about Westcliff’s planned purchase.

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“We are incredibly grateful to Westcliff University for the commitment it has made to help secure a future for Western State College of Law and to secure a means for our students to continue their education at Western State through to earning their degrees,” Easley said. “Through enormous effort on the part of Westcliff, and the deeply rooted loyalty and commitment of our students, staff, faculty, and alumni, we have been given the opportunity to move forward.”

Westcliff University will buy the law school for $1. It will also secure the assets Argosy University, which was the parent university of Western State, used in the operation of the law school.

Lee said the purchase still requires approval of multiple regulators, which could take several months.

In the meantime, previously enrolled Western State students will be able to start their fall semester studies soon as part of a teach-out plan. Westcliff’s Lee said roughly 230 students will start classes at the law school’s existing campus on August 22.

“When accreditor approvals have been secured the teach-out students will be absorbed into normal law school operations, and we will be able to enroll new students into Western State’s exceptional Juris Doctor program,” Lee said. “We are confident the transaction will close, but in the very unlikely situation it did not, we have contractually committed to teach currently enrolled students to their normal graduation dates.”

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Lyle Moran is a freelance writer in San Diego who handles both journalism and content writing projects. He previously reported for the Los Angeles Daily Journal, San Diego Daily Transcript, Associated Press, and Lowell Sun. He can be reached at lmoransun@gmail.com and found on Twitter @lylemoran.

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