Found: $1,500 (TOTAL) At-own-pace Law School

[dcan]

THIS DEGREE WILL NOT LEAD TO A BAR LICENSE.

There are several schools that are state-accredited to provide a path to the bar in California. Yes, if you go through one of them then you can sit for the bar in California, and after practicing for a few years there you can petition another state's bar if that state has a reciprocity agreement with California. There are a handful, not a lot though. This is a "loophole" like I referred to earlier, essentially getting a DL law degree and transferring into another state's bar. Whether you can actually pass the state bar is another question. In fact, the mandatory First Year Law Student Exam has a very low pass rate from these online DL state-accredited schools, and failing to pass (not sure how many tries you get) means you are thrown out and don't get credit for your entire first year.

However, Mid-Atlantic is completely un-accredited and will give you nothing in regards to a "real" law degree. If you want that then after checking out a bunch I fall back to Northwestern California. Tuition is $237 a month for four years, under $15K, and is fully state accredited.

To be honest, since this is something I would look into after a master's degree, I would probably just go with the NWCU option. At least it has some accreditation. Plus after thinking about it for a day or so I have a sneaking suspicion that Mid-Atlantic's module "tests" are merely "write an essay summarizing the textbook" and you pass. If that's the case then the degree really is a joke. I mean, why pay $1,500 and $525 for books (15 x $35 each) when you can get the exact same thing for just the $525? If nothing else, at least now you know what to read, so go through their "course list" and buy the books yourself and read them at your leisure.

So maybe I got all excited over nothing. I thought this was a "steal of a deal" for others in this camp, but it may well just be a scam.

BTW, a lot of lawyers will think any non-ABA school is a scam. Without ABA you will not really be hired at any big firm, but like I said you may be able to do limited private practice in some jurisdictions. That may be enough for some people.

But again, a degree from Mid-Atlantic is not just non-ABA but non-anything and will be worthless if you want to practice law. That needs to be understood.