The University of Massachusetts School of Law (UMass Law) is a public law school in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. The only public law school in Massachusetts, it is the successor to Southern New England School of Law, a private law school that donated its campus and its assets to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and part of the University of Massachusetts system. History Founding A plan to convert private law school Southern New England School of Law (SNESL) into a public law school for the University of Massachusetts system was first proposed in early 2004. The plan would establish the first public law school in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and only the fifth public law school in New England. The Trustees of the University of Massachusetts system voted in favor of the proposal in December 2004, but the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education rejected it in early 2005 as fiscally unsound. The proposal was brought again in October 2009, when Southern New England School of Law offered to donate real estate, facility, technology and library assets to UMass Dartmouth for the purpose of creating a public law program in Massachusetts. These assets had an estimated value of more than $22 million and would be the second largest donation in the 146-year history of the University of Massachusetts system. The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees approved the plan on December 9, 2009 and the Commonwealth's Board of Higher Education did likewise on February 2, 2010. The first class matriculated in August 2010. Later developments In June 2012, the School of Law received provisional accreditation from the American Bar Association after an eight-year quest by SNESL and UMass Law, before receiving full accreditation in December 2016. At a time of declining nationwide enrollment in legal education, UMass Law stabilized its enrollment at about 75 incoming students per year, with applications and the quality of applicants as measured by LSAT scores increased. For the Fall 2018 academic year, first-year enrollment was 94 students, a 17.5% increase from the 2017 first-year enrollment of 80 students and a 42% increase from 2016. Justice Bridge In August, 2014, UMass Law launched Justice Bridge, a legal incubator in downtown Boston, providing reduced-fee legal services to clients of modest means. UMass Law also opened a second Justice Bridge location in New Bedford. Academics Degree Programs UMass Law offers full-time day, part-time