Concordia University-Portland’s Boise law school receives full accreditation

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The American Bar Association has granted full approval to a Boise-based law school that struggled with accreditation.

Concordia University-Portland announced in 2007 it would open a law school in downtown Boise, and spent several years raising money to build the school. The first class opened with 75 students in 2012.

In 2014 the bar association announced it was withholding accreditation while “fact finders” took a closer look at the school. Completing law school normally takes three years, and the delay prompted 55 second- and third-year students to leave Concordia for the University of Idaho Law School, which also has a campus in downtown Boise. Other students took a leave of absence from Concordia.

Law schools must be accredited by the association for graduates to take the bar exam in many states, including Idaho.

The school received provisional accreditation in 2015 and 11 students received law degrees that June.

Concordia University School of Law announced Friday that the association has now granted full approval.

“We have been working diligently toward this goal for several years and earning full accreditation by the ABA underscores our deep commitment to providing quality legal education and graduation students who not only become excellent attorneys, but leaders in their communities,” Dean Elena Langan said in a statement.

The association considers factors such as graduation rates, admission standards and faculty retention.