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Trinity Law School

Santa Ana, CA · official site ↗

Private nonprofitSpecial Focus: Business & ManagementGraduate/Professional
22
Fin. Resilience
Resilience score

vs. 21 peers in its group

Trinity Law School is a private nonprofit institution in Santa Ana, CA, classified by Carnegie as “Special Focus: Business & Management.”

It is benchmarked here against 21 peer institutions (Special Focus: Business & Management · Private nonprofit).

On Ibex's Financial Resilience score it rates 22 out of 100 within that peer group, a transparent composite of endowment per undergraduate, net tuition revenue per student, and instructional spend per student.

Its strongest standing relative to peers is full-time faculty share (100%, 100th percentile).

Its weakest is debt-to-earnings ratio (0.56×).

Peer group

Special Focus: Business & Management · Private nonprofit

21 institutions

No cross-metric risk flags triggered.
Policy & demographic exposure

How exposed Trinity Law School is to the structural shifts reshaping higher ed: a composite structural-risk index plus the 2025 federal budget law’s endowment excise tax and Grad PLUS elimination and the demographic enrollment cliff. Only signals that apply to this institution are shown.

Structural risk indexAn indicative 0–100 structural-risk index (higher = more pressure) blending operating margin, months of cash cushion, tuition dependency and the home-state enrollment cliff. Screens for the financial and demographic strain that precedes closures and mergers — directional, not a prediction.
100
High
Enrollment cliff (home state)Projected change in the institution's home-state high-school graduates from 2025 to 2041 (WICHE). The U.S. total falls about 13%; a directional feeder-market signal, not an enrollment forecast.
-27.7%
Severe decline

Indicative signals, not forecasts — see each metric’s definition and the methodology. Endowment-tax and Grad PLUS figures appear only where the institution is actually exposed; “nationally” compares against all schools that report each signal.

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Revenue composition
Where the money comes from $6.9M total revenue · IPEDS FY2022-23

Tuition & fees is the largest single source at 99% of revenue.

Tuition & fees98.6%
Other revenue0.5%
Investment return0.5%
Private gifts & grants0.4%

Where each dollar of revenue comes from, as a share of total positive revenue. Sources are standardized across public (GASB) and private (FASB) reporting; a net investment loss in a down market is shown as 0% and excluded from the mix.

Financial Health
Net tuition revenue / FTETuition revenue per full-time-equivalent student after institutional aid/discounts — what tuition actually nets.
Below peers
$19,342
24th percentile in peer grouppeer median $28,157
Instructional spend / FTESpending on instruction per FTE student — how much of the budget reaches the classroom.
Below peers
$6,465
19th percentile in peer grouppeer median $14,158
Endowment (end of year)Total endowment value at year end — long-term invested wealth that funds operations and cushions shocks.
Below peers
$146,220
11th percentile in peer grouppeer median $13.8M
Avg monthly faculty salaryAverage monthly salary of full-time faculty (IPEDS) — a proxy for faculty investment.
Average
$9,899
35th percentile in peer grouppeer median $11,300
Average monthly salary of full-time faculty, as reported to IPEDS.
Operating marginNet surplus as a share of total revenue — whether the institution runs in the black.
Deficit
-17.4%
21st percentile in peer grouppeer median 3.8%
Net surplus as a share of total revenue (IPEDS FY2022-23): (total revenues − total expenses) ÷ total revenues. A surplus above 4% is strong; a thin surplus near 0% leaves little margin for shocks.
Tuition dependencyTuition's share of total revenue — how exposed the budget is to enrollment swings.
98.6%
89th percentile in peer grouppeer median 72%
Tuition & fees as a share of total revenue (IPEDS FY2022-23). Higher = more exposed to enrollment swings.
Tuition discount rateInstitutional grant aid as a share of gross tuition (IPEDS, private nonprofits only) — the tuition-discount rate. The share of sticker tuition handed back as aid; a high rate (the national average is ~56%) signals heavy price competition for students.
Moderate
15.8%
32nd percentile in peer grouppeer median 36.1%
Institutional grant aid as a share of gross tuition & fee revenue (IPEDS FY2022-23, FASB): allowances applied to tuition ÷ (net tuition revenue + those allowances) — the tuition-discount rate enrollment leaders track, i.e. the share of sticker tuition handed back as institutional aid. Private nonprofit institutions only; public (GASB) institutions report tuition differently and are not shown. The national private-college average is roughly 56% (NACUBO); above ~60% signals heavy price competition.
State appropriations shareState appropriations' share of total revenue — material for public institutions, near zero for private.
0%
89th percentile in peer grouppeer median 0%
State appropriations as a share of total revenue (IPEDS FY2022-23). Material for public institutions; ~0 for private.
Administrative cost shareInstitutional support (central administration, governance, general administration, fundraising, and under FASB the operation & maintenance of plant) as a share of total expenses — private nonprofit (FASB) institutions only, where the figure is comparable. An informational gauge of administrative intensity, not a measure of waste.
24.4%
47th percentile in peer grouppeer median 24.8%
Institutional support — central administration, executive management, governance, general administration, fundraising and (under FASB rules) operation & maintenance of plant — as a share of total expenses (IPEDS FY2022-23, FASB). Private nonprofit institutions only: public (GASB) institutions report functional expenses on a different basis and frequently consolidate large hospital and auxiliary operations, which makes a comparable ratio unreliable, so they are not shown. Because FASB folds plant operations into institutional support, this runs higher than a narrow 'central-office' figure, and schools with sizable hospital or auxiliary operations show a lower ratio as those costs enlarge total expenses. An informational benchmark of administrative intensity, compared within the peer group — not a measure of waste or quality.
Endowment per FTE studentEndowment per full-time-equivalent student — the FTE-correct measure of endowment wealth per student.
Below peers
$578
11th percentile in peer grouppeer median $24,557
End-of-year endowment ÷ 12-month FTE enrollment — endowment wealth per full-time-equivalent student. The FTE-correct companion to endowment-per-undergraduate; FTE counts graduate and part-time load, so research universities look less wealthy on this basis than on a headcount basis.
Structural risk indexAn indicative 0–100 structural-risk index (higher = more pressure) blending operating margin, months of cash cushion, tuition dependency and the home-state enrollment cliff. Screens for the financial and demographic strain that precedes closures and mergers — directional, not a prediction.
High
100
— percentile in peer group
An indicative 0–100 structural-risk index (higher = more pressure), an equal-weight blend of the stress signals we measure: thin or negative operating margin, low months of operating cushion, high tuition dependency, and a shrinking home-state high-school-graduate pipeline (enrollment cliff). Averaged over whichever signals are available (at least two required). It screens for the financial and demographic pressures that precede closures and mergers — a directional indicator, NOT a prediction that any institution will close, and not a credit rating.
Enrollment & Pipeline
12-month FTE enrollmentFull-time-equivalent enrollment over the full year — the denominator for per-student finance measures.
253
24th percentile in peer grouppeer median 592
Full-time-equivalent enrollment over the full 12-month year (IPEDS 12-month enrollment, 2022-23). Counts part-time students at their fractional load, so it runs above fall full-time headcount and is the denominator used for per-student finance measures.
Enrollment cliff (home state)Projected change in the institution's home-state high-school graduates from 2025 to 2041 (WICHE). The U.S. total falls about 13%; a directional feeder-market signal, not an enrollment forecast.
Severe decline
-27.7%
— percentile in peer group
Projected change in the number of high-school graduates in the institution's HOME STATE from the class of 2025 (the national peak) to 2041, per WICHE's Knocking at the College Door, 11th Edition (Dec 2024). The 'enrollment cliff' is the post-2008 birth decline reaching college age; the U.S. total is projected to fall about 13% over this window. A college recruits from many states, so its home-state projection is an indicative directional signal of feeder-market pressure, not a forecast of that institution's own enrollment.
Student Outcomes & Risk
Median earnings (10 yr)Median earnings of former students ten years after first enrolling (working, federally-aided students).
Average
$46,989
33rd percentile in peer grouppeer median $63,450
Median debt at graduationMedian federal loan debt graduates carry at the point they complete.
Average
$26,082
50th percentile in peer grouppeer median $26,511
3-yr cohort default rateShare of borrowers who default within three years of entering repayment. Lower is better.
Below peers
5.9%
90th percentile in peer grouppeer median 2.5%
Share of borrowers who defaulted within three years of entering repayment (U.S. Dept. of Education official cohort default rate). Shown for the FY2017 borrower cohort — the most recent cohort whose full three-year default window closed before the 2020-23 federal student-loan payment pause. More recent cohorts are reported by the College Scorecard at essentially 0%, but that reflects the payment pause (no payments were due, so almost no one could default), not borrower health, so the pre-pause cohort is the last meaningful reading. Lower is better.
Full-time faculty shareShare of faculty employed full-time — higher generally means more availability and continuity.
Strong
100%
100th percentile in peer grouppeer median 59%
Debt-to-earnings ratioMedian graduate debt divided by median earnings — how heavy the debt load is versus what graduates earn. Lower is better.
Below peers
0.56×
100th percentile in peer grouppeer median 0.47×
Loan repayment rate (3-yr)
56.3%
— percentile in peer group
Share of student-loan borrowers who had repaid at least $1 of their loan principal within three years of entering repayment (College Scorecard, FY2024-25). Read it as context, not a simple good/bad score: a low rate can mean borrowers are struggling, but it can also mean many graduates have postponed payments while enrolled in graduate or professional school, which is common at selective schools and pushes their rate down. Unlike the cohort default rate, it is not distorted by the 2020-23 federal payment pause. Reported only where enough borrowers exist.
Top fields of study (all levels)

Trinity Law School’s largest fields by completions, with graduate earnings (4 years out) and debt benchmarked against the same field at its peer group. Sparklines show the 8-year completions trend.

FieldCompletions / yrMedian earnings, 4 yrs outMedian debtEarnings premiumRisk score
Legal Professions & Studies46$93,039—Above benchmark +24%Low · 3
Legal Professions & Studies40$69,932
16th pct · 19 peers
—Below benchmark -7%High · 75

1 of 2 top fields shown have median graduate earnings below the CA state earnings-premium benchmark—an indicative flag under the 2025 federal earnings-premium test (effective July 1, 2026).

Earnings-premium status is an indicative estimate: median graduate earnings four years out vs the CA state median earnings of a high-school graduate (undergraduate credentials) or a bachelor’s-degree holder (graduate credentials) from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2022 ACS 5-year). The official U.S. Department of Education determination uses its own cohort definition and may differ.

The risk score (0–100) is an indicative blend of earnings-premium margin and the five-year completions trend—higher means a field pays closer to (or below) the benchmark and is shrinking. A directional screen, not an official determination.

See the interactive dashboard for all fields and credential levels (associate through doctoral). Source: College Scorecard Field of Study.

Frequently asked
How much do Trinity Law School graduates earn?
Median earnings ten years after entry are $46,989 (College Scorecard), measured across students who received federal aid.
Are Trinity Law School's programs at risk under the federal earnings-premium test?
Indicatively, at Trinity Law School, 1 of the 2 largest fields with available earnings data have median graduate earnings (four years out) below the CA state earnings-premium benchmark used by the 2025 federal test (effective July 1, 2026), under which programs can lose Title IV eligibility if graduate earnings trail those of a typical worker without the credential for 2 of 3 years. This is an estimate using College Scorecard field-of-study earnings vs ACS state/national medians; the Department of Education's official determination uses its own cohort definition and may differ.
Which schools are Trinity Law School's peers?
Trinity Law School is benchmarked against 21 institutions in the Special Focus: Business & Management · Private nonprofit peer group; all percentiles and medians on this page are computed within that group.
Compare with peers
Albany Law SchoolAppalachian School of LawAtlanta's John Marshall Law SchoolAve Maria School of LawBrooklyn Law SchoolCalifornia Western School of Law

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Source: U.S. Department of Education — College Scorecard & IPEDS (most recent releases), with the U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Employment Projections, field-demand outlook) and WICHE (enrollment-cliff projections). Figures lag the current academic year by roughly two to three years. Percentiles and medians are computed within the institution's peer group. Financial Resilience is a transparent composite — see each component above. Compiled by Ibex Insights.