Why does St. Francis have much more stringent English proficiency requirements than other online law schools?
Other online law schools tend to exercise less discretion in the admissions process, accepting students whose English skills are not sufficient for the study of law. What students may not realize is that, pursuant to State Bar of California rules, students must pass the First Year Law Students examination within the first three administrations for which they are eligible to sit for such exam. If students do not pass, they must be dismissed from the law school. These rules apply to all online law schools registered with the State Bar of California. Unfortunately, many online law schools have a practice of enrolling foreign students with subpar English skills who then typically fail the rigorous First Year Law Students Examination and are eventually forced to be dismissed. Since such schools are collecting tuition revenue over the period of time that the foreign student is attempting to pass the First Year Law Students Examination, it is therefore in the schools best interest to enroll a
