About
Thomas Jefferson School of Law is a private law school located in San Diego, California, founded in 1969. The school offers both online and residential Juris Doctor (JD) programs, with a student body that includes a diverse range of individuals, many of whom are non-traditional learners. It emphasizes flexible scheduling, unique specializations in Criminal Law and Intellectual Property, and provides opportunities for real-world client representation through clinics and externships.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 3 Title IV programs, 1 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 2 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing1 · 33.3%
- No Data2 · 66.7%
- 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
American Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
WASC Senior College and University Commission
Action history · 6
- Aug 2023Removal of Approval of a ProgramAmerican Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
- Aug 2023Removal of Approval of a ProgramAmerican Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
- Mar 2023Grant Substantive Change: ProgramWASC Senior College and University Commission
- Nov 2019Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: DenialAmerican Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
- May 2019Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: DenialAmerican 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 $14.7M 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 234 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 TJSL
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
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
TJSL vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions TJSL 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectThomas Jefferson School of Law | — | — | 262 | — | — |
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 | — | — |
California Western School of Law | — | — | 650 | — | — |
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 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 |
TJSL Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
- Brian SternInstitutional Research Analyst
Reports & documents (1)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
Notable alumni of TJSL (18)
A curated list of alumni recognized for notable achievements across industries.
- Leslie AlexanderBusiness
- Cheryl Bazard
- Roger BenitezLaw
- Jennifer Carroll FoyPolitics
- Roy Choi
- Bonnie DumanisLaw
- Harrison GainesSports
- Joey Gilbert
- Duncan L. HunterPolitics
- Jessica KingPolitics
- Derrick KittsPolitics
- Kris Odegard
Frequently asked questions about Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about TJSL.
How many students attend Thomas Jefferson School of Law?
Where is Thomas Jefferson School of Law located?
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