List of defunct law schools in the United States

This page includes law schools in the United States that have closed. Nearly half of the for-profit law schools in the United States operating in 2013 have since closed.

Defunct law schools in the United States

State (city) School Year founded Year closed
Arizona (Phoenix) Arizona Summit Law School, InfiLaw System 2005 2019
California (Anaheim) American College of Law 1971 2012/13
California (Bakersfield) California Pacific University School of Law 1986 2002
California (Carlsbad) California Midland School of Law 2006 2012/13
California (Cerritos) Irvine College of Law 1993 2024
California (Costa Mesa) Whittier Law School 1966 2019
California (Glendale) Glendale University College of Law 1967 2024
California (Inglewood) Northrop University 1942 (parent university) 2001
California (Irvine) California Southern University (correspondence) 1978 2022
California (Long Beach) Pacific Coast University School of Law 1927 2026
California (Los Angeles) MD Kirk School of Law (correspondence) 2005 2012/13
California (Los Angeles) People's College of Law 1974 2024
California (Orange) Pacific West College of Law 1993 2024
California (Riverside) California Southern Law School 1971 2020
California (San Bernardino) American Heritage University School of Law (distance-learning) 2003 2024
California (San Diego) National University School of Law 1971 (parent university) 2001
California (San Diego) Western Sierra Law School 1979 2025
California (San Francisco) New College of California School of Law 1971 2008
California (San Luis Obispo) University of San Luis Obispo School of Law 1993 2015
California (Sacramento) Lorenzo Patiño School of Law, University of Northern California 1983 2013
California (Santa Rosa) Empire College School of Law 1972 2024
California (Upland) Inland Valley University College of Law 2003 2012/13
Connecticut (Hartford) Hartford College of Law 1921 1948
Connecticut (Litchfield) Litchfield Law School 1784 1833
District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) Antioch School of Law 1972 1986
District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) Robert H. Terrell Law School 1931 1950
Florida (Jacksonville) Florida Coastal School of Law, InfiLaw System 1996 2021
Georgia (Atlanta) Atlanta Law School 1890 1994
Georgia (Atlanta) Woodrow Wilson College of Law 1929 1987
Georgia (Augusta) Augusta Law School 1833 1854
Georgia (Augusta) Augusta Law School 1947 1980s
Georgia (Savannah) Savannah Law School 2011 2021
Illinois (Chicago) La Salle Extension University 1909 1980
Illinois (Springfield) Lincoln College of Law 1911 1953
Illinois (Bloomington) Illinois Wesleyan University Law School 1874 1927
Idaho (Boise) Concordia University School of Law 2012 2020
Indiana (Fort Wayne) Indiana Tech Law School 2012 2017
Indiana (Valparaiso) Valparaiso University School of Law 1879 2020
Kentucky (Paducah) Alben W. Barkley School of Law 2005 2008
Massachusetts (Dartmouth) Southern New England School of Law 1981 2010
Massachusetts (Northampton) Northampton Law School 1823 1829
Minnesota (St. Paul) Hamline University School of Law 1972 2015
Minnesota (St. Paul) William Mitchell College of Law 1956 2015
Missouri (St. Louis) Lincoln University School of Law 1939 1955
New Jersey (Princeton) Princeton Law School 1847 1852
New York (Ballston Spa) State and National Law School 1849 1865
New York (Clinton) Maynard-Knox Law School, Hamilton College 1857 1887
North Carolina (Buncombe County) Bailey Law School 1859 1877
North Carolina (Charlotte) Charlotte School of Law InfiLaw System 2006 2017
North Carolina (Greensboro) Greensboro Law School 1878 1893
North Carolina (Richmond Hill) Richmond Hill Law School 1848 1878
Ohio (Cleveland) Lake Erie Law School 1915 1933
Oklahoma (Tulsa) O. W. Coburn School of Law 1979 1985
Pennsylvania (Easton) Union Law School 1846
Puerto Rico (Mayagüez) Eugenio María de Hostos School of Law, Universidad de Puerto Rico 1995 2013
Tennessee (Chattanooga) Chattanooga College of Law 1898 1960
Tennessee (Davidson County) unnamed law school founded by John Haywood 1802 1826
Texas (Dallas) Jefferson Law School 1919 1937
Virginia (Staunton) Staunton Law School 1831 1849
Virginia (Winchester) Winchester Law School 1824 1831
Wisconsin (Milwaukee) Milwaukee Law School 1892 1908

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "For-profit law schools, once flourishing, are nearly extinct". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2025-10-07. Retrieved 2026-08-12.
  2. ↑ "Summit School of Law". Archived from the original on 2017-09-09.
  3. ↑ "American College of Law – Anaheim – California". Aclaw.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-13. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  4. ↑ University, California Pacific. "Welcome to California Pacific University's Custodian of Record's Website". California Pacific University. Retrieved 2026-08-06.
  5. ↑ "California State Bar, General Statistics Report, February 2003 California Bar Examination". Archived from the original on 2012-04-05. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  6. ↑ "California Midland School of Law". Californiamidland.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  7. ↑ "College of Law | Irvine University". Irvineuniversity.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  8. ↑ "Glendale University College of Law > Night Law School Since 1967". www.glendalelaw.edu. Archived from the original on 2023-03-23. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  9. 1 2 "California State Bar, General Statistics Report, July 2001 California Bar Examination". Archived from the original on 2012-04-05. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  10. ↑ "Online Education | Online Education Degree – California Southern University". Calsouthern.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-06-22. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  11. ↑ "Pacific Coast University School of Law: Online Law School in California - Pacific Coast University School of Law: Online Juris Doctor (JD) Program in California". 2021-05-17. Retrieved 2026-08-06.
  12. ↑ "MD Kirk School of Law". MD Kirk School of Law. Archived from the original on 2013-02-09. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  13. ↑ "Pacific West College of Law". pacific west college of law. 2014-12-26. Archived from the original on 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2014-12-26.
  14. ↑ "California Southern Law School". Cslawschool.com. Archived from the original on 2011-01-28. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  15. ↑ "American Heritage University: School of Law". Amheritageuniv.net. Archived from the original on 2011-10-03. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  16. ↑ "California State Bar, General Statistics Report, July 2008 California Bar Examination". Archived from the original on 2012-04-05. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  17. ↑ "San Luis Obispo School of Law – Home". Slolaw.org. Archived from the original on 2012-06-17. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  18. ↑ "School of Law | Empire College". Empcol.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  19. ↑ "Inland Valley University College of Law". Inlandvalleyuniversity.net. Archived from the original on 2012-06-10. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  20. ↑ David, Roger Wolcott (October 20, 1948). "History of the Hartford College of Law". University of Connecticut. Archived from the original on June 8, 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Florida Coastal School of Law". Archived from the original on 2017-09-03.
  22. ↑ See "Extreme Makeover: Law School Edition[permanent dead link]," Daily Report, May 21, 2007.
  23. ↑ McClure's Magazine, LaSalle Extension University advertisement, Outstanding Facts About LaSalle, April, 1922, page 7
  24. ↑ "Lincoln College of Law". History of Sangamon County, Illinois. 19 January 2015. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  25. ↑ "TIM OBERMILLER, For five decades, Illinois Wesleyan's law school trained top legal minds". IWU Magazine, Spring 2012 edition. Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  26. ↑ "Concordia Law School in Boise to close". KTVB. June 25, 2020. Archived from the original on June 27, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Indiana Tech to shutter its law school". Archived from the original on 1 November 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  28. ↑ Lanich, Carley (May 17, 2020). "Valparaiso University graduates last class of law students in midst of coranvirus pandemic". NWI.com. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  29. ↑ Hamilton College, History of the Government Department at Hamilton College Archived 2013-12-05 at the Wayback Machine, accessed July 18, 2013
  30. ↑ Charles Elmer Allison, A Historical Sketch of Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, 1889, page 75
  31. ↑ "For-Profit Charlotte School of Law Closes". New York Times. Aug 15, 2017.
  32. ↑ North Carolina Office of Archives and History. "Greensboro Law School". StoppingPoints.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  33. ↑ "LAKE ERIE SCHOOL OF LAW | Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University". case.edu. 2018-05-11. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  34. ↑ "McCartney, Hon. Washington, LL.D." in The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Pennsylvania of the Nineteenth Century Philadelphia: Galaxy Publishing Company, 1874; p. 459
  35. ↑ Knupfer, Peter B. Union As It Is: Constitutional Unionism and Sectional Compromise, 1787-1861 Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000; chapter 2, endnote 54
  36. ↑ Haywood, John; Haywood, William H. (1999) [1891]. Civil and Political History of Tennessee. Johnson City, Tennessee: The Overmountain Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-5707-2105-2 – via Google Books.
  37. ↑ Ashe, Samuel A., ed. (1907). Biographical History of North Carolina from Colonial Times to the Present. Vol. VI. Greensboro, North Carolina: Charles L. Van Noppen. pp. 280–281 – via Google Books.
  38. ↑ Association, Texas State Historical. "The History of Jefferson School of Law: From Night School to University". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2026-09-27.