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 |Add To My Favorites |Track Bill | Version: 10/03/25 - Chaptered
 08/27/25 - Enrolled
 04/23/25 - Amended Assembly
 03/24/25 - Amended Assembly
 02/20/25 - Introduced

 AB-1155 Law schools: externships: compensation.(2025-2026)

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 Date Published: 10/06/2025 02:00 PM

AB1155:v95#DOCUMENTBill Start

 Assembly Bill

 No. 1155

 CHAPTER 292

An act to add Chapter 7.5 (commencing with Section 66550) to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education.

 [
 Approved by

 Governor
 October 03, 2025.

 Filed with

 Secretary of State
 October 03, 2025.
 ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1155, Fong.
 Law schools: externships: compensation.

The Donahoe Higher Education Act establishes the segments of postsecondary education in the state, including the University of California and independent institutions of higher education, and sets forth the missions and functions of those segments. Existing law states that the University of California has exclusive jurisdiction in public higher education over, among others, instruction in the profession of law, and that the independent institutions of higher education provide undergraduate and graduate instruction and research in accordance with their respective missions. Provisions of the act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California act, by appropriate resolution, to make them applicable.

This bill would require, beginning
 August 1, 2026, each law school, defined to include American Bar Association-accredited or California-accredited law schools at the University of California or an independent institution of higher education, to allow law students to receive compensation from an externship site, as defined, while concurrently earning academic course credit. For purposes of the bill, a requirement on a law school at the University of California would be considered a request on the regents.

Digest Key

 Vote:
 MAJORITY 
 Appropriation:
 NO 
 Fiscal Committee:
 YES 
 Local Program:
 NO 

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) In California, the cost of completing a Juris Doctor (J.D.) program averages nearly $175,000 at American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law schools and over $75,000 at California-accredited law schools.

(2) The majority of California law students, 78 percent, report taking out loans for their law degree. The median loan debt of California law students is $120,000.

(3) Regional costs affect the cost of attendance, particularly as California law schools are primarily located in the most expensive areas of the state, including the Sacramento, San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, and San Diego regions, which incur on average 20 to 70 percent higher living costs than other regions in the United States. Overall, the cost of living in California is higher than the national average.

(4) Law schools
 accredited by the ABA are required to ensure students complete a minimum of six credit hours in experiential learning. Experiential learning includes field placements, which are often referred to as externships.

(5) California-accredited law schools also require law students to complete a minimum of six credit hours in experiential learning.

(6) Nationally, law school policies
 have begun to allow academic credit for paid externships. Schools that have changed their policies have reported no adverse effects on learning or program administration after implementation.

(7) The ABA House of Delegates adopted Resolution 514 in August 2024, which
 encourages law schools to allow students to receive compensation for credit-bearing externships.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to allow law students to accept compensation while concurrently earning academic credit for externships.

SEC. 2.

 Chapter 7.5 (commencing with Section 66550) is added to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:

 CHAPTER
 7.5. Law School Externships

66550.

 For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Compensation” includes, but is not limited to, financial compensation in the form of travel costs, stipends, minimum or higher hourly wages, or additional wages and benefits set by employers.