JD Degree | Juris Doctor

Maximum transfer credits/years accepted: 2 years (if student is compliant with all transfer policies).

The School of Law accepts applications from Learners seeking to transfer from other law schools, provided the applicant has either successfully passed the First-Year Law Students’ Examination or became exempt while attending an accredited law school. Applicants seeking advanced standing must submit official transcripts of all previous law study. All prospective transfer Learners are individually evaluated for purposes of awarding transfer credit. Among the factors considered in such an evaluation are the grades of the applicant in law courses completed, the law school where the courses were completed, and the period of time since the courses were completed. A maximum of two years of transfer credit may be awarded.

All applicants who wish to be admitted as second or third year Learners must obtain an Evaluation of Law Study Completed and Contemplated from the CBE. The School of Law will assist transfer students in the preparation of a proposed plan of study for submission to the CBE.

Applicants previously disqualified or dismissed from any academic institution for academic reasons may be granted admission to the School of Law when there is an affirmative showing by the applicant that he or she possesses the requisite ability for the study of law.

Such a showing may be made:

A. At any time, if the applicant presents credible evidence that the prior disqualification or dismissal was not caused by the applicant’s lack of capacity for the study of law, but instead resulted from a traumatic event or serious hardship that prohibited the applicant from performing at her or his normal level; or

B. After at least two (2) years have elapsed since the disqualification or dismissal, if the applicant demonstrates that work, study, or other experience during the interim has resulted in a stronger potential for law study than the applicant exhibited at the time he or she was disqualified or dismissed for academic reasons. In each case the dean of the School of Law must approve admission of the applicant.

The School of Law has not entered into a transfer or articulation agreement with any other college or university.

4 Years (full-time status)

With maximum transfer credits, Learners can complete the degree program in as little as two years.

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The following disclosure is required by the California Committee of Bar Examiners:

“The method of instruction at this law school for the Juris Doctor (JD) degree program is principally by correspondence.

Students enrolled in the JD degree program at this law school who successfully complete the first year of law study must pass the First-Year Law Students’ Examination required by Business and Professions Code Section 6060(h) and Title 4, Division 1, Chapter 1 Rule 4.3(I) of the Rules of the State Bar of California as part of the requirements to qualify to take the California Bar Examination. A student who passes the First-Year Law Students’ Examination within three (3) administrations of the examination after first becoming eligible to take it will receive credit for all legal studies completed to the time the examination is passed. A student who does not pass the examination within three (3) administrations of the examination after first becoming eligible to take it must be promptly disqualified from the law school’s JD degree program. If the dismissed student subsequently passes the examination, the student is eligible for re-enrollment in this law school’s JD program, but will receive credit for only one year of legal study.

Study at, or graduation from, this law school may not qualify a student to take the bar examination or to satisfy the requirements for admission to practice in jurisdictions other than California. A student intending to seek admission to practice law in a jurisdiction other than California should contact the admitting authority in that jurisdiction for information regarding the legal education requirements in that jurisdiction for admission to the practice of law.” End of Disclosure.

* Under the California Committee of Bar Examiners’ rules, a “distance-learning law school” must require that students participate in not less than 135 hours of synchronous (live) interactive classes per year. Because so many CalSouthern learners reside in different time zones, work full time, and choose the flexibility of distance education, it would be an unreasonable hardship to require learners to be available on specific days and at specific times. Therefore, the University continues to offer a law program that does not require learners to participate in live classes and has elected to be classified as a “correspondence law school” under the rules of the California Committee of Bar Examiners, even though its programs are delivered entirely online. (It is important for learners to note that this classification has no bearing on a learner’s eligibility to sit for the California bar examination or admission to practice law in California.)

Please click here for the Business & Professions Code Section 6061.7(a) Information Report.