Could Michael Really Go To Phoenix?

Season 4 Spoilers so this is under the cut

One of the ongoing jokes of the series is Michael’s desire to start over his life in Phoenix. So when he decides to go to law school of course it is at University of Phoenix, an online school. It’s a funny joke but can you really get a law degree over the internet?

Yes. But it isn’t a great idea. 

To be a practicing attorney in the United States a person must meet the requirements of their state bar. In every state this includes an educational requirement which can be satisfied with a JD from an ABA accredited law school. There are no ABA accredited online schools and the current rules make it impossible to create one.

But Michael is fortunate that he is in California, one of the states that allow non-accredited schools to satisfy the educational requirements. Online schools may register with the state as unaccredited law schools. Students are these schools must take 4 years of classes (ABA schools only require 3 years) and must pass an exam after their first year of study. The First-Year Law Students’ Examination, a seven-hour-test with 4 essays covering the traditional 1L courses. Students at the ABA schools are exempt from this exam.

Still, Michael might look into trying to transfer to an ABA school. While California doesn’t require one in order to take the bar, passage rates at non-ABA accredited schools are not great. Going to an ABA school doesn’t guarantee that you’ll pass the bar, but for July 2012 almost 70% of the ABA students passed. The rates for graduates from the unaccredited schools are only 22%.  

Maybe Barry still has that guy who could take the test for you?

(And just as an interesting side note, along with the ABA schools and the non-accredited schools, California also has a set of schools which are not ABA accredited but have been accredited by California. Online schools wouldn’t qualify for this designation so it isn’t germane to the conversation. Just observing that California seems to enjoy in making things as complex as possible.)