Degree Requirements
Degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence
The degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence will be conferred upon candidates who complete, with a grade point average of 2.0 or better, six semesters of resident law study and earn 89 semester hours of credit, including the required courses. The required average must be maintained on the work of all six semesters and also for the combined work of the grading periods in which the last 28 hours of credit are earned at the College. The normal maximum period for a full-time law student to complete requirements for the J.D. degree is five calendar years. Any exception to this rule must be approved by the Dean or the Dean's designee. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that all graduation requirements have been met. Additional information on requirements can be obtained from the Student Records Office.
In addition to other requirements for graduation, each student also must earn a grade of 2.0 in at least two-thirds of the required first-year courses. A student required to repeat course work pursuant to this policy shall repeat at the earliest possible time the course(s) in which he or she received the lowest grade or such other course(s) as may be approved by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. The revised degree requirements for first-year students will apply to all students who enter the College of Law in 1996 or thereafter.
The First Year
The first-year course of study is designed to provide students with a solid theoretical and analytical foundation for upper-division elective courses. Since the first-year course work is fundamental to a solid legal education, the curriculum is mandatory.
| First Semester | Second Semester |
|---|---|
| Civil Procedure I (3) | Civil Procedure II (3) |
| Contracts I (3) | Contracts II (3) |
| Criminal Law (3) | Legal Process II (3) |
| Legal Process I (3) | Property (3) |
| Torts I (3) | Torts II (3) |
The Second Year
Required courses in the second year:
- Legal Profession (3)
- Constitutional Law (4)
Other Requirements
The following requirements reflect the faculty’s conviction that each student should develop essential lawyering skills and the ability to view law and the legal system in broad perspective.
Students must satisfy these requirements at some time prior to graduation. These requirements may be met through successful completion of any number of elective courses.