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"California Western School of Law, founded in 1924, is a private, non-profit law school located in San Diego, California. It is popularly known as California Western or Cal Western and formerly California Western University. The school was approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) in 1962 and became a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1967. It is the oldest law school in San Diego.
History
California Western was originally chartered in 1924 by Leland Ghent Stanford as a private graduate institution called Balboa Law College, the first law school in San Diego. His brother, Dwight Stanford, served as one of the first deans. (Leland Ghent Stanford is not related to the founder of Stanford University, Leland Stanford, although he did attend Stanford, where he earned undergraduate and law degrees, and also M.A. and Ph.D degrees in Government Administration.) Balboa Law College expanded to include undergraduate and other graduate studies and changed its name to Balboa University. The law school at Balboa University was closed in 1946.
In 1952, Balboa University became affiliated with the Southern California Methodist Conference, changed its name to California Western University, and relocated to Point Loma. The law school was reopened in downtown. In 1960, the law school had 6 full-time faculty and 23 students. In that year, it re-located to Rohr Hall at Point Loma. It received approval from the American Bar Association in 1962.
In 1968, California Western University changed its name to United States International University (USIU). The law school retained the name California Western. USIU moved to Scripps Ranch. Point Loma Nazarene University currently occupies the Point Loma site. In 2001, USIU merged with California School of Professional Psychology to become Alliant International University.
In 1973, the law school relocated from its Point Loma location to the current downtown campus at 350 Cedar Street. In 1975, California Western ended its affiliation with USIU and became an independent secular law school. In 1980, the new trimester system was announced, allowing two entering classes in one academic year, reducing individual class size and allowing students to graduate in two years rather than the standard three.
In 1993, the law school opened a new administrative and campus center at 225 Cedar Street, housing faculty and administration offices, including student affairs and financial aid.
In January 2000, California Western opened a new Law Library building at 290 Cedar Street, which was dedicated by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. The current Dean, Niels B. Schaumann, joined the law school in 2012.
In December 2012, National Jurist magazine ranked California Western within the top 40 law schools in the nation for diversity. At number 35, California Western was the highest-ranking law school in San Diego for student and faculty diversity; Fifty eight percent of entering students were women.
Post-millennium, California Western has received consistent recognition as one of the nation's best law schools to prepare graduates for the bar examinations required to practice law."