| People's College of Law | |
| Motto | Producing Peoples Lawyers |
|---|---|
| Established | 1974 |
| School type | Private, Non-profit Law School |
| Dean | |
| Location | Los Angeles, CA, US |
| Enrollment | |
| Faculty | |
| Bar pass rate | 0% (0/1) (July 2010 1st time takers)[1] |
| Annual tuition | $4,014[2] |
| Website | People's College of Law |
The People's College of Law (PCL) is an unaccredited, private, non-profit law school located in Los Angeles, California. PCL offers a part-time, four-year evening law program centered around work in the public interest.
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Aimed at addressing inequities in law and society, PCL was founded in 1974 for individuals historically denied access to legal training and representation. The school maintains a socio-political requirement that states: "An eligible candidate will be able to demonstrate a commitment to progressive social change."[3] PCL uses an alternative method of law school admission which rejects the LSAT due to what the school views as its cultural and sociological limitations. Tuition is kept low through the use of unpaid volunteer faculty and the work of students and members of the PCL community to maintain the facilities. Student involvement is coordinated through an accountability system, in which each student works at least 40 hours per year to help maintain PCL.
PCL is registered with the Committee of Bar Examiners[4] of the State Bar of California as an unaccredited law school and may grant the juris doctor (J.D.) law degree. Its students must take and pass the First-Year Law Students' Examination, also known as the "Baby Bar", at the end of their first year in order to receive credit for their law study and eventually qualify to sit for the California Bar Examination. It is not approved by the American Bar Association.[5]
For the years 1997 through 2010, 29 People's College graduates have taken the California Bar Examination as first-time takers; of that number, 3 passed the examination for a pass rate of 10%.[6]
The current Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, and Gilbert Cedillo, California State Senator of the 22nd District in Los Angeles, are graduates and the most famous alumni of PCL. Villaraigosa failed the California Bar Exam in each of four attempts, and thus remains unlicensed to practice law.[7] Cedillo is not a member of the California State Bar.[8]
Noted AIDS activist Ilka Tanya Payán was also a graduate of PCL, became a lawyer in 1981,[9] practiced immigration law and was a New York City Human Rights Commissioner before her death from AIDS. A small park in New York was named in her honor in 1982.[10][11]
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