Juris Doctor (J.D.)

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Candidates for the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree must successfully complete a minimum of 86 credits including all required first-year courses and a course in Professional Responsibility; a professional skills course; satisfy the upper-level writing requirement; complete six residency semesters; and maintain a satisfactory record characteristic of a prospective member of the legal profession.

Residency

All degree candidates must complete six full semesters in residence, except in the case of transfer students who receive credit for work completed at other law schools and enter with advanced standing. A semester in residence is one in which a student enrolls in a minimum of 12 credits towards the J.D. degree, receives grades of D or better for at least nine of those 12 credits, and satisfies the Law School’s attendance requirement.

Grading System

Degree candidates must meet two standards during each academic year (August-May) of enrollment to remain in good academic standing: they must earn a minimum grade point average (GPA) of C+ (2.3) and accumulate fewer than three exclusion points. A grade of D carries one exclusion point and a grade of F carries two exclusion points. Under the current grading system, there are ten possible grades that can be used by the faculty in evaluating performance in courses and seminars: A+, A, A-, B+, B, B- C+, C, D, F. It is the intent of the faculty that, for the purpose of allocating grades in a course or seminar and to assist in achieving grade uniformity, the mean grade for each course and seminar will be a 3.3 (B+). However, there is no particular grading curve to which a faculty member must adhere.