California (Fullerton) -- Western State University College of Law -- Accreditation: Full ABA -- Year Founded: 1966

Western State University, College of Law (WSU) is a private, for-profit American law school in Fullerton, California. It is the oldest law school in Orange County and has over 10,000 alumni.

Western State University College of Law is recognized for its diverse student body with more than 30% minority enrollment. For two consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report rated Western State University #1 in its law school diversity index. Its nearly 10,000 graduates include hundreds of prosecutors and public defenders throughout the state, more alumni on the judicial bench in the region than any other law school, and countless professionals in private practice, in administrative and government positions within state and local bar, and in a number of diverse ethnic and gender-related organizations. According to the school, the school’s graduates are well represented in other counties of Southern California and can be found across the country and beyond.

Western State offers both full-time and part-time programs. Currently, the full-time program is only offered as daytime study, and the part-time program is only offered through evening study. However, part-time students can apply for spring admission, while full-time students can only do so for fall. Despite the law school name, Western State University is not affiliated with the California State University.



Main building as seen from the roof of a parking structure across the street at Cal State Fullerton

Accreditation and ranking

The American Bar Association (ABA) granted WSU full approval in August 2009. As such, graduates may sit for the bar in all fifty states.

Western State University had previously been provisionally approved from February 1998 through early August 2004, after which time the school did not receive full approval. Instead, it was allowed to reapply for provisional approval on an expedited basis, resulting in the granting of provisional approval again in February 2005. The ABA visited the school during the last week of February 2009 in order to complete its reassessment. The team sat in on classes, conducted an open forum with students, and interviewed individual deans and professors. WSU had dramatically increased its California bar passage rate for first-time takers in July 2008, exceeding 75% for the first time in its history. This fact likely influenced the decision.

The College of Law was ranked in Tier 4 among law schools in the U.S. according to the 2006 rankings, the last year it was ranked. It is not currently ranked by U.S. News & World Report.

Admissions information

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Contact

Western State University College of Law
1111 North State College Blvd.
Fullerton, CA 92831-3014

Phone: 714.738.1000

http://www.wsulaw.edu