Summary: The Tampa Bay campus of Cooley Law School is awaiting approval from the Florida Commission for Independent Education on changing the name to Western Michigan University.
The newest law school in Florida is receiving a new name. It will go by the name of Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School, according to The Tampa Bay Times.
The change in name affects the Tampa Bay campus and four others in Michigan.
Cooley is a private law school headquartered in Lansing, Michigan. It has been faced with a 35 percent decline in enrollment from last year and will close its campus in Ann Arbor.
The school in Riverview, which is just south of Tampa, had zero students enrolled when it opened two years ago. Now, it has 450 students enrolled, according to spokesman James Robb.
“That campus is going strong,” Robb said. “We’re pleased with the school’s receipt into both the Tampa Bay community and into the legal community in Tampa Bay.”
Cooley is the 12th law school and fifth to open since 2000.
Cooley began its affiliation with Western Michigan University in August, as we previously reported. Despite adding the name to the school, Cooley will stay private.
First-year law school students were not accepted in Ann Arbor this fall and the school requested to close the location with the ABA. The school announced the location will close on December 31, 2014.
The name change at the Tampa Bay campus is pending approval from the Florida Commission for Independent Education.
Image credit: Cooley Law School