he Consortium, made up of four independent ABA and AALS accredited American law schools, California Western School of Law, New England School of Law, South Texas College of Law and William Mitchell College of Law, has joined forces to offer you a cooperative model for legal education.

The Consortium for Innovative Legal Education or CILE, is an innovative educational service organization of combined resources and cooperative effort designed to enhance and strengthen the educational mission of each school separately and all of them collectively. This unique partnership provides expanded opportunities for educational programs on a national and international basis.

The Consortium for Innovative Legal Educations offers:

• Fully - transferable courses between the four participating Consortium schools
• Summer study abroad, earning credit towards your degree
  
• A semester of study in a foreign country with full credit towards your degree

Charting the best course for practicing law in today's dynamic legal and business environment can be an exciting and challenging journey. The Consortium for Innovative Legal Education gives students a new and exciting resource to make and meet that challenge.

CILE is an innovative educational service organization that, by cooperation and the combining of resources, enhances and strengthens member schools’ ability to accomplish each school’s educational mission and provides expanded opportunities for educational programs on a national and international basis.

Furthering that mission, the Consortium’s goals include:

1. Enriching existing curriculum at member schools by

• Increasing the depth of curricular offerings
• Exchanging faculty
• Exchanging students
• Developing new methods of teaching
• Expanding availability of foreign study
• Creating graduate degree programs
• Emphasizing legal skills training
• Using advances in teaching methodologies and technology in the classroom and beyond

2. Enriching the academic lives at member schools by:

• Exchanging faculty
• Encouraging the exploration of new methods of teaching
• Promoting scholarship

3. Enriching the professional life of the legal community nationally and internationally by:

• Bringing innovative approaches to continuing legal education programs (e.g., learning by doing) particularly to alumni of member schools
• Bringing new mechanisms for presenting high quality legal education to both the bench and bar
• Creating graduate degree and certificate programs

4. Enriching legal knowledge of the general community by:

• Developing graduate and certificate programs in related fields
• Expanding access to training in fields with special legal concerns
• Fostering broader understanding of the law and justice system through innovative programs

5. Enriching the reputations of member schools by:

• 1) Increasing awareness of Consortium schools
• 2) Expanding geographic impact of consortium schools
• 3) Expanding/enhancing career opportunities of students
• 4) Establishing high standards of educational quality
• 5) Achieving administrative synergies