Law schools: externships: compensation.

The entire amendment to Section 66010.7 (intersegmental collaboration and coordination among postsecondary education segments) was removed from the bill, eliminating a nonsubstantive change to that provision and narrowing the bill's focus solely to law school externship compensation.

Legislative finding (2) was replaced: the old version cited that about one-third of law students are first-generation and 35 percent of those expect to incur over $120,000 in debt. The new version states that 78 percent of California law students report taking out loans and the median loan debt is $120,000.

Finding (7) about ABA Resolution 514 was expanded to add the phrase 'which encourages law schools to allow students to receive compensation for credit-bearing externships.'

Subsections in Section 66551 were renumbered (the paralegal exclusion, no-binding provision, and workers' compensation provisions shifted letter designations), though the substantive content of each provision is unchanged. The renumbering contains apparent drafting errors with duplicate subsection letters.

The fiscal committee vote notation was corrected from a contradictory 'no yes' to simply 'yes.'

Header changed from enrolled bill format (Assembly/Senate passage dates, Governor receipt line) to chaptered format with Chapter 292 designation and approval date of October 3, 2025.

Page numbering changed from 'AB 1155' to 'Ch. 292' throughout the document.

Governor's signature line updated from blank to showing initial 'O' (Gavin Newsom), confirming the bill was signed into law.

Entirely new Chapter 7.5 (Sections 66550-66551) added to the Education Code governing law school externships, expanding the bill from a minor technical fix to a substantive policy mandate affecting all ABA-accredited and California-accredited law schools at UC and independent institutions.

For UC law schools, any requirement imposed by the bill is treated as a request on the Regents of the University of California rather than a direct mandate, preserving UC's constitutional autonomy.

Beginning August 1, 2026, each covered law school must allow law students to receive compensation (stipends, hourly wages, travel costs, benefits) from an externship site while concurrently earning academic course credit for the externship.

Each law school must support students seeking externships by requiring each law student to meet with the relevant externship supervisor at the law school to discuss externship opportunities.

The bill does not require externship sites to offer compensation (employer discretion), does not change course credit requirements beyond allowing pay, does not alter externship site approval criteria, does not create workers' compensation obligations, and does not bind students or employers to future work arrangements.

New definitions established for 'compensation,' 'externship,' 'externship site' (which may be in person, hybrid, or remote, and in-state or out-of-state), 'externship site criteria,' 'law school' (ABA-accredited or California-accredited at UC or independent institutions receiving state-funded financial aid), and 'law student' (J.D., LL.M., or J.S.D. students).

Students must be in good academic standing per law school rules to be eligible for externship compensation. Paralegal certification program students are explicitly excluded.

Law schools are prohibited from charging students restitution or compensation beyond tuition expenses for an externship opportunity.

The original nonsubstantive change to Section 66010.7 (changing 'Superintendent of Public Instruction' to 'Superintendent') is retained but renumbered as a later section in the amended bill.

Removed the requirement that each law school must support law students seeking externships by requiring each law student to meet with the relevant externship supervisor at the law school to discuss externship opportunities. This was a mandatory obligation placed on law schools that no longer exists in the enrolled bill.

Finding (2) was replaced: the old version cited that about one-third of law students are first generation and 35 percent expect to incur over $120,000 in debt. The new version states that 78 percent of California law students report taking out loans and the median loan debt is $120,000.

Minor wording cleanups throughout: 'Beginning on or after August 1, 2026' simplified to 'Beginning August 1, 2026'; garbled text in findings (4) and (6) corrected; finding (3) changed from 'cost of living to attend law school in California' to 'cost of living in California'; finding (7) reworded for clarity.