U of I Accepts 110 Transfer Students from Concordia Law, Largest Number of Law School Transfers in the Western U.S.

Eight New Faculty Hired to Teach Beginning Fall 2020

BOISE — Aug. 14, 2020 — The University of Idaho College of Law will grow this fall by 110 students, rendering the transfer of Concordia Law students and the largest-ever transfer for a western law school. 

Nearly all of the students will have the opportunity to still complete their legal education in Boise. Two of the students chose to relocate to the law school’s Moscow location at the main U of I campus.

Concordia’s parent institution, Concordia University in Portland, announced in February that the university was closing its Boise location due to financial reasons. Concordia Law School sought to partner with another Concordia institution, but that fell through in late June.

According to the American Bar Association, the organization that oversees law school accreditation, the highest number of transfers in recent years was 110 to Georgetown in 2016. The last large transfer of law students to U of I was in 2014 when Concordia was unsuccessful in securing ABA accreditation. Fifty-three students transferred at that time and 42 later graduated from U of I. 

U of I has hired eight faculty to accommodate the increase in transfer students, including six professors from Concordia Law.

“As the state’s public law school, we felt that it was our obligation to help Concordia students who wanted to complete their legal education in Idaho,” said University of Idaho College of Law Dean Jerrold Long. 

The College of Law had just admitted a class of 137 first-year students in June. Later that month, Concordia Law closed. The College of Law has been working to create additional space to accommodate all of its Boise students and will be using office and classroom space in both the Idaho Law and Justice Learning Center (ILJLC) and Idaho Water Center. 

The Menard Law Building in Moscow has re-opened and COVID-19 testing is required for all Moscow-based students. The ILJLC and Idaho Water Center will re-open to students when Boise returns to Stage 4 of the governor’s reopening plan. Until that time, Boise classes will be taught remotely.

Face masks are required and, to allow for physical distancing, classrooms and break rooms are limited to 50 percent maximum occupancy. Fall classes are anticipated to be taught in a HyFlex format until Thanksgiving and then online for the remainder of the semester. Fall exams will be administered online. 

The incoming class of first-year law students is half Idaho residents and half from out-of-state. Of the Concordia transfer students, only 15 are from out of state. The incoming class includes students from 21 states, Canada and Russia.

(Media note: University of Idaho College of Law Dean Jerrold Long and students transferring from Concordia to U of I are available for interviews.)

—

Media Contact

Noelle Collins
Marketing & Communications Manager
College of Law
208-885-7115
dncollins@uidaho.edu

Boise

Maria Ortega
Marketing & Communications Manager
University of Idaho Boise
208-364-4586
mortega@uidaho.edu

Northwest

Brian Walker
External Communications Coordinator
University Communications & Marketing
208-885-0929
bwalker@uidaho.edu