San José State University Poised to Establish First Public Law School in San Jose & CSU System as Senator Cortese’s Bill Advances

SACRAMENTO – San José could soon be home to its first public law school, and the first public law school in the California State University (CSU) system, under legislation by Senator Dave Cortese (D-Silicon Valley) that cleared a key Assembly committee today. SB 550 passed the Assembly Higher Education Committee and now moves to the Assembly Judiciary Committee for consideration on July 15.

“SB 550 opens the door to a law school in San Jose that is affordable, community-based, and designed for the next generation of leaders and first-generation students,” said Senator Dave Cortese (D-Silicon Valley). “Cost and geographic barriers drive talent away from public service careers and prevent first-generation and underrepresented students from entering the legal profession. We must lower these barriers to entry and create a public legal education option where it’s needed most.”

California is facing a crisis in affordable legal education. Law school remains out of reach for many due to cost, limited public options, and geographic disparities. Santa Clara County is home to nearly 2 million residents, but has no public law school. In a region where over 65% of the population identifies as Asian or Latino, both groups remain severely underrepresented among licensed attorneys statewide.

Lincoln Law School of San José, the only nonprofit state-accredited law school in San José, supports SB 550 and has expressed interest in integrating with San José State University to help establish California’s first public law school in the CSU system as well as the first public law school in San José. Under SB 550, San José State University could partner with Lincoln Law School of San José through a six-year pilot program to expand access to legal education by allowing the two institutions to jointly award Juris Doctor (JD) degrees while also jointly providing undergraduate legal education certificates.

The average law school debt in private schools now exceeds $130,000, and 67% of young lawyers report financial stress—deterring many from pursuing legal careers. Under SB 550, students in San José’s new public law program would pay no more than existing CSU graduate program fees, helping to make legal education far more accessible and affordable.

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