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Dual Degree Programs

Please note that the J.D. students may also pursue the optional D.C.L. along with the Dual Degree.

J.D.-M.B.A. Program

Louisiana State University, through the Paul M. Hebert Law Center and the E. J. Ourso College of Business, offers a combined J.D.-M.B.A. program that allows students to earn both a law degree and an MBA degree concurrently. Students earn overlapping credit towards both degrees. The transfer of concurrent credits allows a student to complete the requirements for both degrees in four years. Otherwise, completion of the two degrees would take at least five years. The two faculties feel that granting concurrent credit will enhance the attractiveness of the respective academic programs and provide greater employment opportunities to a number of talented students.

The respective faculties of the law school and the business school have approved an award of 12 hours of credit toward the J.D. for courses taken in the M.B.A. program and of 14 hours of credit toward the M.B.A. for courses taken in the law school. The course credit will also be counted toward the degree (J.D. or M.B.A.) from the institution in which the courses were taken.

Although the awarding of transfer credit (granting of concurrent credit) may colloquially be referred to as a “joint degree program,” that description is a misnomer from an administrative perspective. Each institution separately awards its degree. A student successfully completing the required courses of study shall receive two degrees, a Juris Doctor by the LSU Law Center and a Master of Business Administration awarded by the E. J. Ourso College of Business.

The only change in either degree program is the awarding of concurrent credit. A student will have the option of pursuing parallel degree programs with common areas of study. A student will be required initially to complete either the first year at the law school or the first year at the business school.

A student who wishes to first pursue law may choose to complete either the first or the first and second (i.e. “freshman” and “junior”) years of law school before completing the first year of the business school’s M.B.A. program. Following completion of the first year of the M.B.A. program, the student would follow a combined curriculum of law and business school courses. Students should note that they must complete Evidence (LAW 5605) before being allowed to enroll in Trial Advocacy (LAW 5608), which is conducted over a three-day period one week before the fall semester of the third year.

A student who wishes to first pursue the M.B.A. curriculum at the business school would complete the first year at the business school followed by the first year of law school. The student would then pursue both law and business courses toward completion of the final requirements of each program.

In order to be approved for the combined credit, a student is required to be admitted to both the E. J. Ourso College of Business and the LSU Law Center. Admission to each will be determined independently by the faculty of each school. This cooperative agreement between the two faculties leaves each degree program with separate admission requirements, with separate first year requirements, and with separate degree requirements as determined exclusively by the faculty recommending the awarding of the degree.

Tuition and fees will be paid to both the Law Center and the LSU campus according to the number of credit hours for which the student is registered on each campus.

In order to be approved for the combined credit, a student is required to be admitted to both the E. J. Ourso College of Business and the LSU Law Center. Applicants should contact both the Law Center and the E.J. Ourso College of Business for information.

For more information regarding the M.B.A. program, contact Leah Whitmire, lwhitm3@lsu.edu.

J.D.-M.M.C. Program

The Law Center and LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication offer a concurrent degree program through which a student may receive both a Juris Doctor and a Master of Mass Communication degree in approximately four years.

Applicants to the program must be separately admitted into the J.D. and M.M.C. programs. Students may begin the program in either the Law Center or the Manship School, but one of the first two years of the program must be devoted exclusively to the first year of the J.D. program at the Law Center. Thereafter, students may take a combination of law and mass communication courses, and complete the M.M.C. thesis requirement near the end of the fourth year of the concurrent program. Although the two degree programs remain separate from one another, the concurrent program accelerates the completion of both degrees because of each school’s recognition of credit hours earned for course work completed in the other. The Law Center accepts nine credit hours of mass communication course work as elective credits toward the J.D. degree and the Manship School accepts nine credit hours of law course work as elective credits toward the M.M.C. degree.

The concurrent program is designed to appeal both to those students who wish to specialize in First Amendment and communications law as practicing lawyers, and to those who wish to work as professionals in mass communication in fields related to law.

For more information on the M.M.C. component of the dual degree program, please contact Dr. Yongick Jeong, yjeong@lsu.edu or 225-578-7381.

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

Admissions requirements for the J.D.-Master of Public Administration program include all requirements noted in the LSU Graduate School Catalog for the M.P.A. program plus those required for admission to the LSU Law Center. Separate applications must be made to both the LSU Graduate School and LSU Law Center and the appropriate test scores—GRE and LSAT—provided.

Applicants admitted into the J.D.-M.P.A. program will spend the first consecutive fall and spring semesters as a full-time student in the Law Center. After completion of the first year in the Law Center, joint degree students simultaneously schedule both M.P.A. and law courses until the requirements for both degrees are fulfilled. Satisfactory completion of the requirements of the J.D.-M.P.A. program should take approximately three and one half years of full-time study (including summers) and culminates in the awarding of both the M.P.A. and J.D. degrees.

For more information on the M.P.A. component of the dual degree program, please contact Nicole Schmitz, nschmitz@lsu.edu or 225-578-7766.

J.D.-M.S. in Finance Program

Through a concurrent degree program between the LSU Law Center and the LSU E.J. Ourso College of Business, students can earn both a J.D. and an M.S. Degree in Finance (Masters of Science Degree in Finance) in less time than would be required to earn the two degrees separately. The program operates as follows:

  • Admission to both schools is required and is granted independently of each.
  • The student is required to complete the first year of law school and the first semester in the MS program before taking any courses for which concurrent credit is granted.
  • The student can choose which program to begin first, but because the Law Center admits beginning law students only in the fall semester, a student who chooses to begin the concurrent degree program at the Ourso College will likely begin the M.S. program in the spring semester.
  • The Law Center grants 12 hours of credit toward the J.D. degree for courses completed successfully and granted credit in the M.S. in Finance program, and the Ourso College grants 18 hours of credit toward the M.S. Degree in Finance for courses completed successfully and granted credit in the J.D. program.
  • Each of the two degrees are awarded separately by the two schools on completion of the requirements for that degree.
  • The recognition of concurrent credit as described above allows a student to complete the requirement for both degrees in four years instead of the five years that otherwise would be required.

J.D.-Master of Social Work Program

The LSU Law Center and the LSU School of Social Work offer a concurrent degree program through which a student may receive both a Juris Doctor (J.D.) and a Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) degree. Students successfully completing the concurrent degree program receive two separate degrees: a J.D. awarded by the Law Center and a M.S.W. awarded by the School of Social Work.

The dual degree program will enable a student to earn a Juris Doctor (J.D.) and a Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) degree in approximately four years through concurrent enrollment in law and social work graduate courses. J.D./M.S.W. students will earn 9 hours of concurrent credit from both the Law Center and the School of Social Work.

Students wishing to participate in this program must meet the admission requirements for both the Law Center and the School of Social Work. Students must apply separately to the LSU Graduate School and the LSU Law Center, with appropriate test scores—GRE and LSAT— provided. Students may begin the program in either the Law Center or the School of Social Work, but students must complete both the first year of the J.D. program at the Law Center and the Foundation Year of the M.S.W. program at the School of Social Work during the first two years of study. Thereafter, students may take a combination of Law and Social Work courses, provided that they meet the degree requirements of each program.

Students participating in this program are required to complete a graduate thesis in the School of Social Work. Students may fulfill the Law Center’s upperclass writing requirement with the satisfactory completion of a graduate thesis on a topic with a substantial legal component. Satisfaction of the upperclass writing requirement in this manner requires advance permission of the Law Center’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. In addition, at least one member of the Law Center faculty must serve on the committee under whose direction the thesis is completed. Students whose theses do not involve a substantial legal component must fulfill the upperclass writing requirement in the Law Center’s prescribed manner.