Western State College of Law is Acquired by Westcliff University
December 16, 2020
Westcliff University formally announced the acquisition of Western State College of Law. Western State College of Law is the oldest law school in Orange County, California. Western State College of Law was founded in 1966.
Western State College of Law was previously owned by Argosy University. In 2019, Argosy University was placed under a federal receivership and the campus lost its eligibility for federal student loans. Western State looked to be on the path to closure, joining six other law schools that has closed since 2017.
But almost two years later, Western State is still operating and is celebrating the completion of its acquisition by Westcliff University. Westcliff is a for profit school based in Irvine and the school agreed to purchase Western State for $1. A federal judge overseeing the receivership signed off on the deal, but the transfer still required the blessing of accreditors. The ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar approved the school’s transfer to Westcliff University in November 2019.
In Southern California, Whittier Law School closed in July, while both the University of LaVerne College of Law and Thomas Jefferson School of Law opted to drop their ABA accreditation and instead become California-accredited schools. That conversion means that graduates can only sit for the bar exam in California.
Now, the future of Western State—now called Western State College of Law at Westcliff University—appears secure with the completion of that transfer.

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