Purdue acquires online-only Concord Law School
Purdue University recently acquired the for-profit Kaplan University, and with that comes Concord School of Law. The Indiana university will be the first public institution with an online law school.
Concord Law School is one of a handful of online law schools, Law.com reports. For now, the law school’s day-to-day operations remain unchanged, Concord dean Martin Pritikin told the publication, and he expects that Purdue’s reputation will boost Concord’s.
Concord does not have ABA accreditation, and currently California is the only state that allows the school’s graduates to sit for its state bar exam. Out of 77 graduates who sat for the July 2016 California state bar, 16 percent passed, according to data (PDF) released by the agency.
In November, Concord filed petitions in Arizona, New Mexico and Connecticut seeking to change existing rules that restricts its graduates from taking bar exams. Pritikin told Law.com that he’s yet to receive responses from those states.
“I’m being patient and hopeful,” Pritikin said. “I think if we’re evaluated on the merits, we can hold our own with a number of ABA schools. My goal is to help break down some of the preconceived notions people have about online learning and online law school.”
Purdue paid $1 for Kaplan University, and agreed to share 12.5 percent of the programs’ new revenue with Graham Holdings Co., which owns Kaplan Inc., the Washington Post reports. Under the terms of the deal, Kaplan will continue to provide support—including marketing, human resources and financial aid administration—for the program for 30 years, with a buyout option after six years.
