Joint M.P.A. - J.D. Program

See Also: College of Law

The College of Law and the Department of Political Science offer a coordinated dual degree program that enables students to earn the M.P.A. and the J.D. degrees in about four years rather than the five years that would otherwise be required. Students pursuing the dual degree program should plan to be enrolled in course work or an internship for one summer term in addition to taking normal course loads for four academic years.

Admission

Applicants for the dual degree program make separate application to, and must be independently accepted by the College of Law and the Graduate School for the M.P.A degree. Applicants also must be accepted by the Dual Degree Committee. All applicants must submit an LSAT score. The LSAT score may be substituted for the GRE score which is normally required for admission to the M.P.A. degree. However, if the student is not accepted by the Law School, a GRE exam score must be submitted to the Graduate School for application to just the M.P.A. program. Interested students may apply for the dual degree program prior to matriculation in either the J.D. or the M.P.A. program, but application to the dual degree program must be made prior to entry into the last 29 semester hours in the J.D. program or prior to entry into the last 15 hours required for the M.P.A. degree.

YOU MUST BE ACCEPTED BY THE GRADUATE SCHOOL AS WELL AS THE DEPARTMENT TO ENROLL

Curriculum

Dual degree candidates must satisfy the requirements for both the J.D. and the M.P.A. degrees as well as the requirements for the dual degree program. The College of Law awards 9 semester hours of credit toward the J.D. degree for successful completion of approved gradate level courses (500 or 600 level) offered in the Department of Political Science. The M.P.A. program awards up to 9 semester hours of credit toward the M.P.A. for successful completion of approved courses in the College of Law. All courses for which such cross-credit is awarded must be approved by the J.D.-M.P.A. coordinators in the College of Law and the Department of Political Science.

All Candidates for the dual degree must successfully complete Administrative Law (Law 821) and are strongly encouraged to take Local Government (Law 824). An internship also is strongly recommended but one is not required. During the first two years of the dual degree program, students normally spend one academic year completing the required first year of the College of Law curriculum and one academic year taking courses solely in the M.P.A. program. Students may not take courses in opposite programs without approval of the J.D.-M.P.A. coordinators. In the third and fourth years of the dual degree program, students are strongly encouraged to take both law and political science courses each semester.

Awarding of Grades

The grades awarded in courses in either program will be converted to either Satisfactory or No Credit in the other program and will not be computed in determining a students' GPA or class standing. The College of Law will award a grade of Satisfactory for an approved M.P.A. course in which the student earns a grade of B or higher and a grade of No Credit for any lower grade. The Political Science Department will award a grade of Satisfactory for an approved law course in which the student earns a grade of 2.3 or higher and a grade of No Credit for any lower grade. (The official academic record of the student maintained by the Registrar of the University shall show the actual grade assigned by the instructor without the conversion).