The Golden State has lost two American Bar Association-accredited law schools within the span of a week.

Thomas Jefferson School of Law will no longer have the ABA's seal of approval as of Dec. 17—the day after the fall semester ends. The announcement about the San Diego law school from the ABA's Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar follows a decision Nov. 18 by the trustees at the University of La Verne to convert its law school to one accredited by the State Bar of California and drop its ABA-accredited status.

Like La Verne, administrators at Thomas Jefferson said Friday that the school will remain in operation as a California-accredited campus, thus avoiding the fate of Arizona Summit Law School in Phoenix, which closed in 2018 shortly after losing its ABA accreditation. Program requirements for California accreditation are easier to meet than the ABA's accreditation standards, but the change means graduates of both schools won't be able to sit for the bar exam outside of California, at least initially.