About
California Western School of Law is a private law school in San Diego, California. It is one of two successor organizations to California Western University, the other being Alliant International University. The school was founded in 1924, was approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) in 1962, and became a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1967.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 1 Title IV programs, 1 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing1 · 100.0%
- No Data0 · 0.0%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
WASC Senior College and University Commission
WASC Senior College and University Commission
American Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
Action history · 4
- Feb 2023Initial AccreditationWASC Senior College and University Commission
- Feb 2023Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
- Oct 2018Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
- Oct 2018Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, students received in Pell grants, alongside $33.3M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 228 borrowers who entered repayment, 1 (0.4%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at CWSL
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- Public property3
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
CWSL vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions CWSL selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectCalifornia Western School of Law | — | — | 650 | — | — |
Abraham Lincoln University | 0% | — | 112 | $24,825 | — |
Albany Law School | — | — | 670 | — | — |
Appalachian School of Law | — | — | 154 | — | — |
Atlanta's John Marshall Law School | — | — | 379 | — | — |
Ave Maria School of Law | — | — | 299 | — | — |
Brooklyn Law School | — | — | 1,125 | — | — |
Cal Northern School of Law | — | — | 55 | — | — |
Charleston School of Law | — | — | 692 | — | — |
CUNY School of Law | — | — | 669 | — | — |
Massachusetts School of Law | — | — | 273 | — | — |
Mitchell Hamline School of Law | — | — | 1,163 | — | — |
New England Law-Boston | — | — | 1,131 | — | — |
New York Law School | — | — | 1,062 | — | — |
Roger Williams University School of Law | — | — | 484 | — | — |
San Joaquin College of Law | — | — | 154 | — | — |
South Texas College of Law Houston | — | — | 1,089 | — | — |
Southern University Law Center | 32% | — | — | — | — |
Southwestern Law School | — | — | 1,006 | — | — |
The Colleges of Law at Santa Barbara | — | — | 78 | — | — |
The Colleges of Law at Ventura | — | — | 288 | — | — |
Thomas Jefferson School of Law | — | — | 262 | — | — |
Thomas M Cooley Law School | — | — | 420 | — | — |
Trinity Law School | — | — | 273 | — | — |
University of California College of the Law-San Francisco | — | — | 1,195 | — | — |
University of New Hampshire-Franklin Pierce School of Law | — | — | 718 | — | — |
University of West Los Angeles | — | — | 367 | — | — |
Vermont Law and Graduate School | — | — | 722 | — | — |
| Peer group median | 16% | — | 484 | $24,825 |
CWSL Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
- Baran BulkatDirector of Institutional Research and Associate Director of Admissions
Reports & documents (1)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
Notable alumni of CWSL (23)
A curated list of alumni recognized for notable achievements across industries.
- David Asper
- Anthony J. Battaglia
- Alissa Bjerkhoel
- Scott C. Black
- Christina Bobb
- Garland E. Burrell Jr.
- Marlene Caride
- Derrick H.M. Chan
- Shana Dale
- Sean Elo-Rivera
- David FrancisAthletics
- James B. Gibson
Frequently asked questions about California Western School of Law
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about CWSL.
How many students attend California Western School of Law?
Where is California Western School of Law located?
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