While currently enrolled students will be able to continue through graduation, the news means that the law school is effectively shutting down. It seems that the future of the law school has been under srutiny for some time as a statement from the board of Whittier College said it had been considering the future of the law school since 2015.

No other viable options

The statement also explained that while the board had considered other options to closure such as having the law school become part of another institution, none of those plans worked out. ‘We believe we have looked at every realistic option to continue a successful law program. Unfortunately, these efforts did not lead to a desired outcome,’ the statement said.

Attacked by law school

The move was attacked by the law school in a statement posted on the law school's website. The notice which has now been removed read: ‘We are obviously devastated by the Whittier College Board of Trustees’ decision to discontinue the program of legal education at Whittier Law School…For more than 50 years, we have provided a high-quality education to students of diverse backgrounds and abilities -- students who might not otherwise have been able to receive a legal education and who are now serving justice and enterprise around the world. As is well-known, the last few years have been extremely difficult for law schools across the country. Whittier Law School felt those challenges keenly, and we took significant steps to address them..'