Trinity Law School is not accredited by the American Bar Association. It is accredited by the California State Bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners, which is a separate and more limited form of accreditation. This distinction matters significantly for where you can practice law after graduating.
What Accreditation Trinity Law School Holds
Trinity Law School, part of Trinity International University, appears on the State Bar of California’s official list of law schools accredited by its Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE). This means the school meets California’s own standards for legal education, and its graduates are eligible to sit for the California Bar Exam without any additional requirements. CBE-accredited schools may teach in traditional classrooms, online, or through a hybrid format, and they must maintain a minimum five-year cumulative bar passage rate of at least 40 percent.
Trinity International University, the parent institution, holds regional accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission. The university participates in federal Title IV financial aid programs, so Trinity Law students can generally access federal student loans. Regional accreditation of the university and ABA accreditation of the law school are two separate things, though, and one does not substitute for the other.
Why ABA Accreditation Matters
The American Bar Association is the only law school accreditor recognized nationwide. Graduating from an ABA-accredited school lets you sit for the bar exam in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories without extra hurdles. Most states require applicants to hold a J.D. from an ABA-accredited institution as a baseline eligibility requirement.
A degree from a California-accredited (but non-ABA) school like Trinity does not carry the same portability. If you plan to practice only in California and pass the California Bar Exam, the CBE accreditation is sufficient. If you want to practice elsewhere, you face a much narrower and more complicated path.
Practicing Outside California With a Non-ABA Degree
Most states will not let you sit for their bar exam directly with a degree from a non-ABA law school. A handful of states offer a workaround, but it typically requires years of licensed practice in California first. The general pattern looks like this:
- Five years of practice required: States like Alaska, Arizona, and Colorado allow graduates of state-accredited (non-ABA) law schools to sit for their bar exam after roughly five years of active practice in a jurisdiction where they’re already admitted.
- Ten years of practice required: Florida and Connecticut set the bar even higher, requiring a decade of active practice before a non-ABA graduate can apply.
- Additional coursework required: The District of Columbia requires non-ABA graduates to complete at least 26 semester hours of study in bar-tested subjects at an ABA-accredited school, and those hours cannot come from online or correspondence courses.
- No path available: Many states simply do not allow graduates of non-ABA schools to sit for their bar exam under any circumstances.
In practical terms, choosing Trinity Law School means committing to starting your legal career in California. Expanding to other states later is possible but requires patience and a track record of licensed practice first.
Bar Passage Rates
Trinity Law School’s bar passage rates run well below the statewide average for ABA-accredited schools. On the July 2025 California Bar Examination, 28 first-time takers from Trinity sat for the exam and 8 passed, a 28.6 percent pass rate. Among repeaters, 56 took the exam and 6 passed, a 10.7 percent pass rate.
For comparison, ABA-accredited law schools in California routinely post first-time pass rates above 60 percent, with top schools exceeding 80 percent. Lower pass rates at CBE-accredited schools are common across the board, not unique to Trinity, but the numbers are worth weighing carefully. A lower pass rate means a higher chance of needing to retake the exam, which adds time, cost, and stress before you can begin practicing.
What This Means for Prospective Students
If you’re considering Trinity Law School, the key tradeoffs come down to geography and career flexibility. A CBE-accredited degree will let you take the California Bar Exam, and if you pass, you can build a legal career in California. Federal financial aid is available through the university’s Title IV participation, which helps with tuition costs.
The limitations show up when you look beyond California. Most employers outside the state expect an ABA-accredited degree, and most state bars require one for admission. If there’s any chance you’ll want to relocate or practice in multiple states, an ABA-accredited school removes those barriers from the start. The bar passage rate gap is also worth factoring into your decision, since it affects how quickly you can move from graduation to a paying legal career.