Closed and historical law schools

Closed and Historical Law Schools

Status review cutoff: August 30, 2026. This directory distinguishes closed schools, merged predecessor pages, former names, teach-outs, and operating non-ABA programs. Verify the linked profile and the relevant licensing authority before relying on historical credentials or current eligibility.

Historical law-school pages remain useful to alumni, employers, researchers, and applicants trying to understand a rename, merger, closure, or teach-out. TLS preserves that value without presenting a former school as a current admissions option.

How TLS Classifies Historical Pages

Status	Directory treatment
Closed school with independent history	Keep a substantial historical canonical page with a prominent closure banner
Merged or consolidated predecessor	Redirect the duplicate predecessor title to the current consolidated profile; retain the history in the destination
Renamed operating school	Redirect the former name to the current official canonical title; explain the name history in the current profile
Teach-out	Identify who may still be served, the approval limits, and the terminal date from the governing authority
Operating non-ABA school	Keep a current status-first profile; never imply Council approval or nationwide bar eligibility

Closed Schools with Historical TLS Pages

Historical page	Status treatment	Primary status source
Florida Coastal School of Law	Closed historical page. The Council archive lists ABA approval in 1999 and withdrawal of approval in December 2023. The former short title “Coastal Law” should redirect here.	Council-approved law schools archive
Savannah Law School	Closed historical page for the former Savannah branch of Atlanta's John Marshall Law School. It should not be presented as a separate current school.	ABA accreditation and news archive, including the Savannah teach-out

The profile for each school should state the last entering class, teach-out or closure sequence, accreditation history, and final available outcome periods only when directly verified. Historical admissions or employment figures remain labeled with their original years.

Merged or Consolidated Predecessors

Former or duplicate TLS title	Canonical destination	Treatment
Pennsylvania State University - Penn State Law	Penn State Dickinson Law	Merge and redirect after the consolidated profile preserves University Park and Dickinson history
Rutgers School of Law-Camden	Rutgers Law School	Merge and redirect; retain a Camden location section
Rutgers School of Law-Newark	Rutgers Law School	Merge and redirect; retain a Newark location section
The John Marshall Law School	University of Illinois Chicago School of Law	Merge and redirect; preserve predecessor history and distinguish the Chicago school from Atlanta's John Marshall
William Mitchell College of Law	Mitchell Hamline School of Law	Merge and redirect; preserve the William Mitchell and Hamline combination history

The Council's accreditation archive records the 2015 Rutgers merger and the Council's acquiescence in the William Mitchell–Hamline combination.

Current Programs Requiring Special Accreditation Labels

These programs are not closed, but they should be separated from the Council-approved directory so applicants do not infer ABA approval.

Current page	Required status language	Verification source
Golden Gate University School of Law	Status-first dual-track explanation: a new California-accredited J.D. program is not ABA-approved; the former ABA J.D. program has only the limited teach-out status stated by the Council, through no later than July 1, 2027.	State Bar of California law-school directory; Council decision on Golden Gate's revised teach-out
Thomas Jefferson School of Law	Current California-accredited law school that is not ABA-approved. The profile must explain jurisdiction-specific bar eligibility and direct readers to current bar authorities.	State Bar of California law-school directory

Former Names of Operating Schools

Former names should normally redirect to the current official title rather than remain as duplicate indexable articles. A rename is not a closure. The current profile should retain a concise history so alumni and searchers can recognize the relationship.

Examples in the TLS migration inventory include UC Hastings, Cleveland-Marshall, Penn Law, Pace Law, Northwestern Law, Pepperdine Law, Hofstra Law, and other former official or common names. The production redirect map—not this reader-facing page—controls the complete redirect list.

Historical Data Rules

• Preserve a useful final ABA 509, employment, and bar period when available.
• Label each figure with its historical year and former program.
• Do not apply a predecessor's outcomes to a successor, new accreditation track, branch, or consolidated program unless the source reports that entity.
• Do not publish current deadlines, tuition, or recruiting language for a closed program.
• Explain transcript, records, or alumni resources only from a current official source.
• Keep a historical page indexable when it provides substantial, accurate, unique value; do not index a thin duplicate or redirect source.

Applicants Considering a Non-ABA Program

Eligibility to sit for a bar examination can differ by jurisdiction and may change. Applicants should obtain current written information from the school and independently verify it with every jurisdiction in which they may seek admission. A state-accredited degree should not be described as nationally portable without jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction evidence.

Corrections

Institutional status is a high-priority field. Submit a direct public notice or regulator record through the corrections process.