Paralegal

[Jonathan Whatley]

Plus, since these are California schools, then I qualify to become a LDA in the State of CA.

I'm almost certain this is not true.

6402.1. To be eligible to apply for registration under this chapter as a legal document assistant, the applicant shall possess at least one of the following:
(a) A high school diploma or general equivalency diploma, and either a minimum of two years of law-related experience under the supervision of a licensed attorney, or a minimum of two years experience, prior to January 1, 1999, providing self-help service.
(b) A baccalaureate degree in any field and either a minimum of one year of law-related experience under the supervision of a licensed attorney, or a minimum of one year of experience, prior to January 1, 1999, providing self-help service.
© A certificate of completion from a paralegal program that is institutionally accredited but not approved by the American Bar Association, that requires successful completion of a minimum of 24 semester units, or the equivalent, in legal specialization courses.
(d) A certificate of completion from a paralegal program approved by the American Bar Association.

Business and Professions Code, Section 6402-6407 (leginfo.ca.gov) See also What Legislation involves Legal Document Assistants? (California Association of Legal Document Assistants)

The law doesn't say anything about preferring California schools.
Clauses (a) and (b) grandfather pre-1999 paralegals or legal document assistants. Clause (d) requires ABA approval of the paralegal program, which I don't believe any Center for Legal Studies (or Penn Foster) program holds.

Clause ©, for a paralegal program from an institutionally accredited but non-ABA paralegal program, "requires successful completion of a minimum of 24 semester units, or the equivalent, in legal specialization courses."

I would be surprised if any accredited school transcripted 24 semester units or the equivalent for a Center for Legal Studies paralegal certificate. There's a flyer [pdf] from Adams State College (now University) in Colorado hosted on the Center for Legal Studies site that suggests they'd award 6 semester hours for two 7-week CLS Paralegal Certificate courses taken through Adams State.

Also, your statement implies that whether a school is located in California bears on eligibility of their graduates for LDA registration. I don't see anything to that effect in the law. A qualifying paralegal program from inside or outside California would serve equally well. I don't think the basic CLS Paralegal Certificate program would qualify through any school. Perhaps you could stack other legal courses CLS offers, through a school that awarded credit, to total 24 semester hours. If any school would do this.