This Idaho Law School May Shut Its Doors

A law school is on the brink of extinction.

Concordia University in Portland, Oregon — parent university to its Boise, Idaho, law school —

announced plans recently of closing its doors by the end of the spring semester. Why? Dwindling enrollment and mounting debt, Law.com reports.

“As part of the difficult decision to close the campus in Portland, the board also decided to give Concordia Law permission to find a willing and viable parent institution,” interim law Dean Latonia Haney Keith tells a Boise television station. “This process is underway, and we are currently engaged in active conversations with multiple institutions interested in an affiliation with the law school. We will have more details in coming weeks about Concordia Law moving forward.”

DARK FUTURE

The law school currently enrolls 190 students. However, Concordia Law is one of many law schools that has faced or is facing an uncertain future.

Law schools such as Whittier Law School, Charlotte School of Law and Arizona Summit Law School have already closed their doors in recent years for the same reason for declining enrollment and increasing debt.

If Concordia Law did close its doors, it would be the seventh ABA-accredited law school to do so in the past six years. However, according to Law.com, Concordia would be the first law school to close its doors due to its parent university shutting down.

School officials at Concordia are following the situation closely and keeping students updated.

“They’re hearing it for the first time so they had to take that all in,” Dean Haney Keith tells Law.com in regards to breaking the news to students. “We have a very family-centric approach to education, and so there is a lot of trust between the students, faculty and staff.”

Sources: Law.com, KTVB