Thomas Jefferson School of Law was founded in 1969 as the San Diego campus of Western State University College of Law, a privately-owned institution based in Fullerton, California. The San Diego branch was located in downtown San Diego and offered Juris Doctor Degrees to working professionals who could attend law school only part-time in the evenings.
Over the years, local students began asking school leaders to start a full-time law program. To accommodate the need, the school relocated in 1983 to a new, larger campus in historic Old Town San Diego, just a few miles north of downtown San Diego.
The school was renamed Thomas Jefferson School of Law in late 1995 and was granted provisional American Bar Association (ABA) accreditation in August 1996, just seven months after applying. Full ABA accreditation was granted in August 2001 and the law school became a private, non-profit institution that same year.
Thomas Jefferson School of Law opened a new campus in 2011, returning to its roots in downtown San Diego. Construction of the eight-story high-tech building in the East Village community was completed in December, 2010. The first classes in the new facility were held in January 2011.
Located close to the heart of the city’s legal community, Thomas Jefferson School of Law has evolved into an innovative, cutting-edge law school devoted to individual needs and the success of its students and alumni. The school is a nationally-known law school with students from across the United States and around the world. Thomas Jefferson offers a part-time program of evening classes, in addition to the full-time program. Learn more about the faculty, the curriculum and admissions and academics.
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
1155 Island Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: (619) 297-9700
E-mail: admissions@tjsl.edu