Could a new public law school be coming to San Jose?
CA State Senator aims to bring public law school to San Jose
San Jose State University is one step closer to accepting a partnership that would allow the school to offer a Juris Doctor of Law. If the bill from State Senator Dave Cortese passes the California State Assembly, SJSU would partner with the Lincoln Law School of San Jose to provide law degrees.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Bay Area boasts some of the most prestigious law schools in the country.
But top-tier law programs at the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University have very low acceptance rates, with Stanford admitting around 8% of applicants each year. UC Berkeley Law accepted 17.3% of hopeful students in 2024. Tuition at both schools comes with a price tag in the hundreds of thousands.
California State Senator Dave Cortese is aiming to carve a new path for aspiring attorneys at San Jose State University.
"We realized we have a law school that’s a non-profit law school in San Jose that’s situated adjacent to SJSU, and that’s Lincoln Law School," Cortese told KTVU.
SB 550, which just passed through the first chamber of the California Assembly, would create a partnership between SJSU and Cortese’s alma mater, the Lincoln Law School of San Jose.
Cortese hopes to make law school more accessible
What they're saying:
The bill would create a legal pilot program operated by the two schools for six years. It would also make SJSU the first school in the California State University system to offer a Juris Doctor of Law.
The four-year program at Lincoln was built to be flexible, to allow more accessibility for non-traditional students, including commuter students and those who are pursuing higher education later in life.
"It’s accessible in that it’s more affordable, and it’s also geared for a different type of student," Jason amezcua, Dean of Lincoln Law School of San Jose tells KTVU. Lincoln offers classes in the evenings, so students can maintain full-time jobs while attending law school.
SJSU shares a similar student demographic.
"Much of the population of San Jose State, currently tens of thousands of students, are commuter students… in a lot of cases, they work their way through school," Cortese said.
Cost is also a prohibitive decision-maker for many people considering a career in law.
Affording law school may be even more challenging for new students, after HR-1, known as the big beautiful bill, capped federal loans for law degrees at $200,000 dollars per student.
"Our tuition is significantly less than a traditional law program, typically half to a third the cost," Amezcua said.
Cortese and Amezcua hope this program could make the law school journey a reality for more people within a matter of years.
"Having 100 people per class may not be sustainable with an organization our size…but linking up with SJSU, that changes the game completely," Amezcua said.
Approval could take some time
What's next:
Approval for this partnership still has a ways to go, first it goes to appropriations, then it must pass the second chamber assembly vote. The bill would then head to the governor's desk for signature.
If the bill passes, the Boards of Trustees for SJSU and Lincoln Law School of San Jose will also vote to approve the program.