WMU Cooley Law School Will Consolidate Two Michigan Locations

There's a lot going on these days which includes several Michigan colleges.

According to the Lansing State Journal, "Western Michigan University Cooley Law School will consolidate its two Michigan locations into one Lansing campus, closing its Grand Rapids campus next year."

One of the biggest reasons for this move is due to the closure of Cooley's Auburn Hills campus in Southeastern Michigan and a 21 percent tuition cut.

At one time, Cooley was the largest law school in the country with many campuses and enrollment peaked at nearly 4,000 students in 2010.

"Closing its Auburn Hills campus merging the Grand Rapids campus will leave one Michigan location, along with one in Tampa Bay, Florida and course offerings at Western Michigan University's main campus in Kalamazoo." (LSJ)

If you take a look at the student numbers most recently, Cooley had 1,156 students enrolled in the fall of 2019.

Cutting back to one Michigan campus helps the law school with unneeded infrastructure, cutting tuition, and to focus on enrolling students who will be able to pass the state bar exam.

President James McGrath said going forward, I think one campus in Michigan is plenty. It's just the final step in rightsizing the school for the future.

"McGrath also said that Cooley will have plenty of space to host students and operations on its Lansing campus and still have room for future growth." (LSJ)

"An American Bar Association standard now requires 75% of graduates from all ABA accredited law schools who take the bar pass it within two years." (LSJ)