The Taft Law School is a distance education, online-based law school

Law school in the United States

In the United States, a law school is an institution where students obtain a professional education in law after first obtaining an undergraduate degree.Law schools in the U.S...

 based in Santa Ana, California

Santa Ana, California

Santa Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States....

. Taft Law School and William Howard Taft University

William Howard Taft University

William Howard Taft University is a private online university headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1976 as a source of continuing education for certified public accountants , the school expanded into a specialized distance education university that now offers multiple academic programs of...

 comprise The Taft University System. The State Bar of California

State Bar of California

The State Bar of California is California's official bar association. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, and prescribing appropriate discipline...

 Committee of Bar Examiners has registered Taft Law School as an unaccredited correspondence law school. As a California State Bar registered school, graduates are allowed to sit for the California Bar exam. Taft Law currently offers Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 (J.D.) and Master of Laws

Master of Laws

The Master of Laws is an advanced academic degree, pursued by those holding a professional law degree, and is commonly abbreviated LL.M. from its Latin name, Legum Magister. The University of Oxford names its taught masters of laws B.C.L...

 (LL.M.) law degree

Law degree

A Law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers; but while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not themselves confer a license...

 programs.

History

The school was initially accredited in 2003, re-accredited in 2008 (with a review scheduled for 2013) by the Distance Education and Training Council

Distance Education and Training Council

The Distance Education and Training Council is a non-profit national educational accreditation agency in the United States specializing in the accreditation of distance education institutions.- History :...

, an accreditation organization recognized by U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation

Council for Higher Education Accreditation

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation is a United States organization of degree-granting colleges and universities. It identifies its purpose as providing national advocacy for self-regulation of academic quality through accreditation in order to certify the quality of higher education...

. The school has not sought approval by the American Bar Association.

Bar pass rates

For the years 1997 through February 2011, 187 Taft Law graduates have taken the California Bar Examination as first-time takers; of that number, 61 passed the examination for a 33% pass rate.

Notable people

• Jonathan Falwell
  Jonathan Falwell
  Jonathan Pate Falwell is the senior pastor at the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. He is the son and successor of the late Reverend Jerry Falwell, and the brother of Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr...
  
   (J.D. '05) — senior pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church
  Thomas Road Baptist Church
  Thomas Road Baptist Church is a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia. It currently claims 24,000 members and is headed by Jonathan Falwell.-History:Started in 1956 by a group of 35, including Jerry Falwell, Thomas Road now claims over 24,200 members...
  
   and son of Jerry Falwell
  Jerry Falwell
  Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
  
   (although he is not a licensed attorney in California)
• Orly Taitz
  Orly Taitz
  Orly Taitz is an American dentist, lawyer, former real estate agent, and leading figure in the "birther" movement, which challenges whether Barack Obama is a natural-born citizen eligible to serve as President of the United States...
  
   (J.D. '02) — lawyer for the birther movement