| Lincoln Law School of San Jose | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Established | 1919, 106 years ago |
| School type | Privatelaw school |
| Dean | J. Jason Amezcua |
| Location | San Jose,California, US 37°19′52″N121°53′06″W / 37.331047°N 121.88489°W /37.331047; -121.88489 |
| Enrollment | 27 (2024)[1] |
| Faculty | 1 (full-time), 27 (part-time)[1] |
| USNWR ranking | Not ranked |
| Bar pass rate | 45.9% (passage rate over a five year period)[1] |
| Website | lincolnlawschool |
Lincoln Law School of San Jose is a small privatelaw school located inSan Jose, California. Founded in 1919, the law school was absorbed byLincoln University in 1926, prior to separating in 1993. The school is approved by the California Committee of Bar Examiners, but is not accredited by theAmerican Bar Association so graduates may not be able to take the bar examination of other states after graduation.
The school traces its roots to 1919 when Benjamin Lickey and his wife Susan Lickey founded a law study program in San Francisco as a way to provide veterans and working-class students a part-time night school for law studies.[2]
The school was incorporated in 1926 as a part of Lincoln University and located inSan Francisco. In 1961, a second law school campus was opened in San Jose, graduating its first class in 1965. By 1987, Lincoln University's entire law school program was concentrated in San Jose. In 1993, the San Jose campus formally separated from Lincoln University becoming independent changing its name to Lincoln Law School of San Jose. The school moved to downtown San Jose in 1999. In 2000, the 25-year-old Peninsula University School of Law merged into Lincoln Law School of San Jose.[citation needed]
From 1965 to 2013 Lincoln published a student-producedlaw review.[3]
In February 2025, California state senatorDavid Cortese and assembly memberAsh Kalra, both Lincoln alumni, sponsored legislation that would allow Lincoln Law School to partner withSan Jose State University to jointly award law degrees.[4]
Lincoln is exclusively an evening-study program that lasts 4 or 4.5 years, depending upon the starting date of the student. 84 units of study are required for graduation with each unit equal to 15 hours of in-class instruction.[5] Students usually attend classes 3 or 4 nights a week, with a few options for elective or seminar classes scheduled during the daytime on Saturdays.[2]
Lincoln Law School of San Jose is accredited by theState Bar of California through its Committee of Bar Examiners.[6] It is not accredited by theAmerican Bar Association so graduates may not be able to take the bar examination of other states after graduation.
From 1993 through 2022, the school was accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners[7] of the State Bar of California. On July 1, 2022, the school reported that due to difficulties stemming from theCOVID-19 pandemic it did not meet the State Bar of California five-year bar passage rate of 40 percent for state-approved law schools. As a result, the school'saccreditation was terminated on December 31, 2022. The law school became a registered, unaccredited, fixed-facility law school effective January 1, 2023.[8]
On March 14, 2025, the Committee of Bar Examiners unanimously approved that Lincoln be reaccredited by the State Bar of California.[9]
As reported by the school in January 2025, the school accepted 12 of 45 applicants (26.6%), with 4 (33.3%) of those accepted enrolling. The median enrollee had a 2.9 undergraduateGPA.[1] More than 77% of the student body identifies as Black, Indigenous, or Persons of Color (BIPOC).[10] The school does not utilize theLaw School Admissions Test (LSAT) for admissions.[1] From 2021 through September 2024, 15 students transferred out of the school and 72 other students did not remain enrolled.[1]
The total estimated tuition for attendance at the school through graduation was $84,000 plus estimated fees of $4,500 for a total of $88,500.[1]
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