Northcentral University, a private online university with offices in San Diego has launched an online J.D.
Northcentral University, which has offered online education in various fields since it was founded in 1996, recently took over John F. Kennedy School of Law.
“JFK University had a proud tradition of serving on-ground students in the San Francisco Bay Area, and we are excited to expand our educational excellence to more students through our expertise in online education,” said NCU President David Harpool.
The school name is now John F. Kennedy School of Law at Northcentral University.
JFK School of Law’s previous parent university, John F. Kennedy University, was acquired by National University in San Diego in 2009. It kept JFK as a separate institution until this year when it closed the university and transferred all of its programs to other school’s in the National University system. JFK had been founded in 1965, but ran into financial problems as more of its core students moved to online offerings.
John F. Kennedy School of Law is accredited by the State Bar of California, but not the American Bar Association. That means graduates can take the California bar exam, but are not eligible to take the exam in other states. The State Bar, however, notified the school in August that it was in noncompliance because its five-year bar exam pass rate was below 40%.
The State Bar of California granted full accreditation to three online law schools for the first time in September. The Concord Law School at Purdue University Global, Northwestern California University School of Law and St. Francis Law School all received full accreditation.
“We are very excited that the John F. Kennedy School of Law has joined Northcentral University,” said Dean Lisa Hutton. “Our online JD degree program maintains our core mission of hands-on learning, faculty mentorship and community service, while increasing access to a high quality, accredited CA-licensure education, especially important for those who can’t attend law school in the traditional model.”
The law school says the online curriculum is rigorous yet flexible, and courses are taught by faculty who are practicing attorneys, judges or legal professionals.
“The online JD program gives students significantly more individualized faculty feedback than the traditional law school model,” said Dean Hutton. “Students have multiple opportunities to apply legal doctrine throughout each course, along with personalized faculty feedback, allowing for a much deeper understanding of the material and greater preparation for exams and, ultimately, for the CA Bar Examination.”
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