The former home of Thomas Jefferson School of Law

The hits keep coming for the Thomas Jefferson School of Law.

The struggling San Diego law school will not accept any new students for the spring 2019 semester, amid a fight to hold on to its accreditation from the American Bar Association. The ABA placed Thomas Jefferson on probation in November for being out of compliance with a number of its accreditation standards pertaining to admissions and educational program. The ABA also raised concerns about the school's finances.

Above the Law first reported that Thomas Jefferson has canceled enrollment for the upcoming semester.

The school announced in May that it was vacating its $90 million, 7-year-old campus for rented space in a downtown office building, a move that saves Thomas Jefferson a significant amount of money. But the new space has remained under construction during the fall semester, leaving students unhappy, according to anonymous sources quoted by Above the Law. Keller refuted that claim, saying that construction on the classrooms is complete though some work is ongoing elsewhere.

In an email to The Recorder Wednesday, Thomas Jefferson interim dean Linda Keller said that “the Law School is committed to providing the best environment for our students.” She added, “We've decided to [forgo] the revenue that a spring entering class would provide because a proportionally smaller spring entering class might not provide the vibrant, collaborative atmosphere for our new students that is an essential part of the first-year law student experience.”

Keller said the move brings Thomas Jefferson in line with many other law schools, which only admit new students in the fall semester.

Meanwhile, Thomas Jefferson is planning for the possibility that the ABA strips its accreditation, which would prevent its graduates from sitting for the bar exam. The ABA revoked the accreditation of another for-profit law campus—Arizona Summit Law School—in June, in an apparent first. (Arizona Summit has sued in a bid to restore its accreditation but administrators have said it will close once the ABA has approved its teach-out plan.)

Thomas Jefferson has applied to become a California-accredited law school, which would enable graduates to sit for the bar there even if it loses ABA accreditation. The State Bar of California's Committee of Bar Examines is slated to consider the school's application on Friday. Thomas Jefferson has asked the committee to fast-track its application, given its current status as an ABA-accredited school.

“[Thomas Jefferson] disagrees with some of the ABA's findings, but it is actively taking steps to address all requests from the ABA, and hopes to maintain ABA accreditation and approval,” according to a California Bar staff memo. “[Thomas Jefferson] also wishes to be cautious and to ensure that, if the ABA accreditation should lapse, the school would continue to maintain an accreditation that would allow its students to be eligible to take the California Bar Examination.”