It’s gone now. If you drive past the old downtown Phoenix location where Arizona Summit Law School used to operate, you won’t find students clutching Casebooks or worrying about the Rule Against Perpetuities. The school officially closed its doors in 2018, but the ripples of its collapse are still felt by hundreds of former students who are left holding the bag on massive tuition debt.
Legal education is usually a stuffy, slow-moving world of tradition and prestige. Arizona Summit was the opposite. It was part of the InfiLaw System—a consortium owned by a private equity firm called Sterling Partners. They saw law school not just as a hallowed hall of learning, but as a business model. A high-volume, high-tuition business model. For a while, it actually worked, at least on paper. But then the bar passage rates cratered, the American Bar Association (ABA) stepped in, and the whole thing came crashing down in a messy, public divorce from the legal community.
The Rise of a Different Kind of Law School
In the mid-2000s, getting into law school was hard. Really hard. Arizona Summit Law School, which originally launched as Phoenix School of Law in 2005, marketed itself as the "opportunity" school. They wanted the students that Arizona State University or the University of Arizona wouldn't take. If your LSAT score was mediocre or your undergraduate GPA was a bit of a disaster, Phoenix School of Law was there with open arms.
They grew fast. In 2013, the school rebranded to Arizona Summit. By then, they were pulling in millions in federal student loan dollars. The mission statement was noble enough: diversify the legal profession. They argued that traditional law schools relied too heavily on standardized testing, which they claimed was biased against minorities and non-traditional students.
Honestly, it’s a compelling pitch. Who doesn't want to help more people become lawyers? But the reality was a bit more cynical. To keep the lights on and the profits flowing to Sterling Partners, the school needed bodies in seats. Lots of them.
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When the Numbers Stopped Adding Up
The problem with being an "opportunity" school is that your students still have to pass the Bar Exam. If they don't, they can't practice law. If they can't practice law, they can't pay back $150,000 in student loans. By 2016, the red flags weren't just waving; they were on fire.
The Arizona Bar Exam results for Arizona Summit graduates became a local punchline. In July 2016, the school's first-time pass rate dropped to a staggering 24.6%. Think about that. Nearly three-quarters of the people who paid for that degree failed the entry-level test to actually use it.
The ABA eventually lost patience. They placed the school on probation in 2017, citing concerns about admissions standards and whether the school was actually preparing its students for the profession. It turns out, you can't just admit everyone and hope for the best.
The Infamous "Stipend" Program
This is where things got weird. To try and boost their reported bar passage rates, the school reportedly offered some graduates money not to take the Bar Exam. Basically, they'd pay you a few thousand dollars to sit out a cycle if they thought you were going to fail and tank their statistics.
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It was a desperate move. It also backfired. When news of these tactics leaked, it only solidified the image of Arizona Summit Law School as a degree mill more interested in optics than education.
The Final Countdown and Closure
By 2018, the situation was terminal. The Department of Education cut off the school's access to federal student loans. Without that sweet, sweet government money, a for-profit school dies almost instantly.
Students were left in a lurch. Imagine being halfway through your 2L year, having spent $100k, only to find out your school might not exist in three months. The school tried to strike a deal with Bethune-Cookman University to stay afloat, but the ABA blocked it.
In the end, a "teach-out" plan was established. The remaining students had to find other schools to take them, or finish their degrees under a cloud of uncertainty. On November 1, 2018, the school officially forfeited its ABA accreditation. It was the end of an era—and a cautionary tale for the ages.
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Why the Failure of Arizona Summit Law School Matters Today
You might think this is just old news about a defunct school, but the legacy of Arizona Summit Law School is alive and well in the courtrooms. Former students have spent years fighting for "Borrower Defense to Repayment" discharges. They argue they were defrauded by the school’s marketing materials and misleading bar passage data.
The Department of Education has, in recent years, started to listen. Thousands of former InfiLaw students (including those from Florida Coastal and Charlotte School of Law) have seen their federal loans discharged.
But it’s not just about the money. The Summit saga changed how the ABA looks at every law school in the country. They tightened "Standard 316," which now requires at least 75% of a law school’s graduates who take the bar exam to pass it within two years of graduation. If you can't hit that, you lose your accreditation. No excuses. No "opportunity" exemptions.
Navigating the Aftermath: Actionable Steps for Former Students
If you’re one of the people who attended Arizona Summit Law School, you aren't necessarily stuck with that debt or that "scarlet letter" on your resume. Here is how to actually move forward.
- Check your Borrower Defense status. If you haven't filed a claim with the Department of Education, do it now. Evidence of the school's misleading statistics is well-documented in the ABA’s own public filings from 2017 and 2018. Mention the specific findings regarding Standard 501 (Admissions) and Standard 301 (Educational Program).
- Verify your transcripts. The National Student Clearinghouse or the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education usually handles records for closed institutions. Don't wait until you need a transcript for a job background check to find out where yours is buried.
- The Bar Membership Reality. If you did graduate and pass the bar, your degree is still valid. You graduated from an ABA-accredited school (at the time of your graduation). You are a lawyer. Period. Most employers in Arizona are familiar with the Summit story and judge candidates on their individual bar success and work history rather than the school’s eventual demise.
- Tax Implications. If your loans are discharged, keep a close eye on your 1099-C forms. While federal student loan discharge is currently not taxed as income through 2025 at the federal level, state laws vary. Talk to a CPA who knows their way around "insolvency" rules.
The story of the school is basically a map of what happens when the business of education ignores the reality of the profession. It was a grand experiment that failed the very people it claimed to want to help. While the buildings are gone and the brand is dead, the legal lessons learned from the Arizona Summit Law School collapse will likely be taught in "Professional Responsibility" classes for the next thirty years.