Taft School of Law

What Taft School of Law does

Taft Law School is a private, fully online distance-education law school founded in 1984 as an educational division of The Taft University System and headquartered in Santa Ana, California. It is the oldest nationally accredited distance education law school in California and operates under DEAC accreditation (continuously held since 2003), California Committee of Bar Examiners registration as an unaccredited correspondence school, and California BPPE approval. The school delivers two core programs: the Juris Doctor Attorney-Track (JDAT), a 96-credit-hour, four-academic-year program that prepares graduates to sit for the California Bar Examination, and the Juris Doctor Executive-Track (JDET), a non-bar-track Juris Doctor aimed at accountants, healthcare, compliance, law enforcement, and other professionals seeking legal knowledge without attorney practice. Both programs are offered 100% online through two modalities — Directed Study (fixed-start, weekly assignments with faculty interaction) and Independent Study (monthly start dates, self-paced, examination-graded).

The school's technology stack is built on a Moodle-based learning management system (online.taft.edu) for course delivery, examinations, and discussion forums, integrated with LexisNexis Advance for legal research (provided to students at no incremental usage cost) and CALI interactive lessons for supplementary instruction. Examinations are administered at over 363 approved proctored testing sites nationwide. The curriculum draws on casebooks from elite law schools paired with proprietary outlines, summaries, and recorded lectures built over 40 years. Customer-facing distribution is direct-to-consumer through the Taft website (taftu.edu), online application, and inside-sales "Schedule a Call" admissions advisor outreach, with supplemental email marketing ("The Taft Gavel" newsletter) and broad social media presence.

The revenue model is tuition-driven at $420 per credit hour (approximately $10,080 per year at an average 24 credits/year) plus administrative fees (application $50, registration $75, technology/library resource fee $225, first-year AdaptiBar fee $245, graduation $75). Books and materials average approximately $1,500 annually. Payment options include interest-free installment plans, federal Direct Student Loans, third-party tuition assistance, and out-of-pocket pay, with a Taft Tuition Advantage Program offering a 10% discount for graduate-degree holders, CPAs, first responders, law enforcement, military, and 15% for alumni. Revenue is not publicly disclosed. The customer base is composed of working adults needing a flexible, affordable path to a California Bar-qualifying JD (for the JDAT track) or legal-knowledge enhancement (for the JDET track); admissions are currently not accepted from 23 states plus DC due to state-level regulatory restrictions on distance-education law schools.

Name

Taft School of Law

Legal name

Taft Law School

Website

https://taftu.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Taft Law School is an online distance-education law school founded in 1984 as part of The Taft University System, headquartered in Santa Ana, California. It delivers 100% online Juris Doctor programs — Attorney-Track for California Bar eligibility and Executive-Track for non-attorney professionals — serving working adults who cannot attend traditional law school.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Legal Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Online / Hybrid Law Schools & Programs (EDAHAIAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Non-ABA / State-Accredited JD-Granting Law Schools (EDAHAIAB)

Keywords

• Online legal education
• Distance learning law school
• Juris doctor programs
• Bar exam preparation
• Legal education services

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Ana

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Tuition Revenue: Primary revenue stream from per-credit-hour tuition at $420/credit. Average 24 credits per academic year. Students may pay via interest-free installment plans, federal student loans, third-party tuition assistance, or out-of-pocket payments.
2. Administrative Fees: Revenue from various administrative fees including application fee ($50), registration fee ($75), technology/library resource fee ($225), AdaptiBar fee for first-year students ($245), transcript fees, and graduation/diploma fee ($75).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Taft School of Law delivers 100% online Juris Doctor degree programs via two learning modalities — Directed Study (fixed-start, weekly assignments with faculty interaction) and Independent Study (self-paced with monthly start dates). The core products are the Juris Doctor Attorney-Track (JDAT), which qualifies graduates to sit for the California Bar Examination, and the Juris Doctor Executive-Track (JDET), designed for non-lawyers seeking business-law knowledge. Coursework is delivered through a Moodle learning management system and supported by LexisNexis legal research access and CALI interactive lessons.

Product overview

Taft Law School offers an online legal education platform centered on two Juris Doctor degree programs: the Juris Doctor Attorney-Track℠ (JDAT), which prepares students for the California Bar Examination, and the Juris Doctor Executive-Track℠ (JDET), designed for non-lawyers seeking business law knowledge. Both programs are delivered 100% online through two learning modalities (Directed Study with fixed dates and weekly assignments, and Independent Study with flexible scheduling). The platform integrates educational tools including a Moodle-based learning management system, CALI online lessons, LexisNexis legal research database access, Baby Bar preparation recordings, and a Student Section portal containing catalogs and bar exam resources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Juris Doctor Attorney-Track (JDAT)

Quantifiable outcome

• Graduates become eligible to sit for California Bar Examination upon program completion

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Southwestern Law School: Traditional ABA-accredited California law school in Los Angeles. Comparable in California Bar preparation focus and serving career-changers, though primarily campus-based rather than fully online.
• Westcliff University College of Law (formerly Western State College of Law): California-based law school offering JD programs with online and hybrid components. Comparable in California market focus and Bar preparation pathway, though broader program mix and traditional accreditation profile differ from Taft's unaccredited status.
• University of West Los Angeles School of Law: California-based correspondence/online law school offering JD programs to prepare for the California Bar. Comparable in distance-learning format, unaccredited correspondence status, and California Bar pathway focus.

Direct peers

• St. Francis School of Law: California-based online law school offering a JD program designed to qualify graduates for the California Bar Examination. Directly comparable to Taft as another online/correspondence-style California Bar pathway with flexible scheduling for working professionals.
• Concord Law School (Purdue Global): Historically the first fully online JD program in the U.S., now part of Purdue Global. A direct distance-learning law school peer targeting working professionals seeking a JD, with comparable California Bar focus and online delivery model.
• Northwestern California University School of Law: Correspondence-based California law school registered as an unaccredited school with the State Bar of California. Closely comparable to Taft in regulatory status, target segment (distance learners), and California Bar pathway.

Emerging players

• National University (San Diego): California-based nonprofit university offering online graduate programs including legal studies. Comparable in serving working professionals through flexible online delivery and California market focus, though broader postsecondary scope than Taft.
• Mitchell Hamline School of Law: Minnesota-based law school that has pioneered a hybrid JD program blending online and in-person learning. Comparable as an innovator in flexible/online legal education serving non-traditional students, with an ABA-accredited distinction.

Others

• William Howard Taft University (parent system): Parent institution within The Taft University System offering business and education degrees. Closely related as the common-control parent of Taft Law School and a shared-services/operational peer in distance higher education.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TaftLawSchool
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/taft-law-school
• Facebookfacebook.com/TaftLawSchool

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Taft School of Law