Elon University officials will be in Charlotte next week to announce some academic programs. They declined to say whether that discussion includes its efforts to open a branch campus for a law school in the Queen City.
Business North Carolina reported Thursday that Elon University submitted an application to the American Bar Association for accreditation of a branch campus for a law school in Charlotte. A branch campus, as defined by the American Bar Association, means a separate location where a student may earn more than two-thirds of the credit hours that the law school requries for the award of a law degree.
The Council of the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has taken up Elon’s application, and not expected to do so until at least November. The council serves as an independent arm of the ABA for law school accreditation matters.
Elon officials will be meeting at its new Charlotte Regional Center located on the third floor of a West Tremont Avenue office building in the South End neighborhood. Part of the discussion will be on Elon starting sports management classes and internships for students with Charlotte’s professional sports teams. A dozen Elon University students are now part of that program, according to the private university based in Alamance County.
The sports management program is “a great example of the innovative spirit that sets Elon apart,” President Connie Ledoux Book said in a videotaped message at the start of this school year.
Elon, based in Alamance County, has had other regional centers in New York and Los Angeles for years, but this will be its first in Charlotte, according to a university spokesperson. Elon opened its law school in downtown Greensboro since 2006, and a record 173 students are starting their studies there this fall.
Charlotte and the surrounding suburbs is home to about a dozen colleges and universities. Several other large and small universities also are expanding in one of the fastest-growing U.S. metro areas.
Wake Forest University has its Charlotte Center building downtown, and will open a School of Medicine next year through a partnership with Atrium Health. UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler and the University of South Carolina both offer MBA classes in Charlotte. Boston-based Northeastern University offers healthcare classes in the Queen City. Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs also has a Charlotte campus.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include more information on Elon’s application and its current status with the ABA.