Updated September 2012

The Committee on Academic Petitions is in charge of helping law students pursue dual degree programs. Topic 14 of our Academic Rules & Regulations applies to Dual Degrees. Please read those topics available on the law school webpage here.

What is a dual degree program?

A dual degree program enables you to earn a graduate degree while you are studying for your law school degree. Upon completion of both your work in the law school and the work toward the graduate degree, we award you twelve law school course credits and one upperclass writing credit. By taking a dual degree program, you can earn a degree here and a degree elsewhere in less time than it would take to pursue both degrees separately. Over the years, our students have been very enthusiastic about dual degree programs to expand their horizons, or to have an individualized experience working with a faculty member, or to enhance their job prospects or increase their employment options.

What dual degree programs now exist?

The law school currently participates in the following dual degree programs:

J.D./Master of Public Affairs and Politics (M.P.A.P.), Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Department of Public Policy, New Brunswick (formerly known as the Eagleton Program)

J.D./Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.), Graduate School Department of Public Administration-Camden

J.D./Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Graduate School of Business-Camden

J.D./Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Graduate School of Management-Newark

J.D./Master of City & Regional Planning (M.C.R.P.), Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Department of Urban Planning and Policy Development, New Brunswick

J.D./Master of Social Work (M.S.W.), Graduate School of Social Work, New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark.
The Law School offers the following dual degree programs with graduate schools outside Rutgers University:

J.D./Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey--Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Camden
J.D./Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.), University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey--School of Osteopathic Medicine at Stratford, NJ

J.D./Master of Public Health (M.P.H.), University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, School of Public Health.

We will also consider dual degree programs on an ad hoc basis with institutions not listed here.

How do I go about pursuing a dual degree program?

If you are interested in pursuing a dual degree program, then the first thing you should do is to apply for and be accepted by (both the law school and) the graduate program of your choice. Contact the graduate program that interests you for application materials and a course catalog. Note very carefully the program’s application procedures, any admissions examinations, the program’s requirements, and the extent to which you can use law school courses to satisfy the program’s requirements. You should also note the extent to which you can use courses taken before law school as a way to satisfy the graduate program’s requirements.

Keep in mind: the graduate program is the expert on its requirements; the law school is the expert on our requirements. So please be careful to direct questions to the right school. Do not ask the graduate school, for instance, about what we allow, and do not ask us how to apply to the medical school.

What do I do then?

Once you have been admitted to the other program, you must submit a petition to the Committee outlining your proposed program of study; in other words, we need you to submit what we call a “flight plan.” The easiest way to do this is to email your flight plan to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Adam F. Scales afs92@camden.rutgers.edu and Assistant Dean Ed Rentezelas ed.rentezelas@camden.rutgers.edu.

Your flight plan should indicate how you intend to meet the requirements for each degree, semester by semester. Many students find it convenient to set forth their flight plan on a spreadsheet (rows = semesters, columns = progress towards J.D. and other degree), but this is not a requirement. You need to list the semesters in which you will be at the law school, the semesters you intend to be attending the other program, and the number of credits you intend to take each semester. Include summer sessions if you plan to attend them. Please also include how and when you intend to meet our writing credit, skills and professional responsibility requirements.

Having you submit such an outline has proven to be a great way to make sure that dual degree students meet the requirements for graduation; we have saved many a dual degree student from disaster by reviewing his or her outline. We cannot overemphasize how important it is that you submit a flight plan and get it approved by us.

What should I do once the plan is approved?

Keep a copy of the approved flight plan for yourself. Every semester, let us know if you are doing anything different from what you proposed in your plan B for instance, if you told us you would go to summer school, and you decide not to. The sooner we know about changes in your flight plan, the sooner we can advise you about any problems the change might cause. It is really discouraging for us to find out, after the fact, that a student made a change that will make it more difficult for him or her to earn the degrees on time.

The bottom line: keep us informed of what you want to do before you do it. If you don’t, you may be creating problems that cannot easily be fixed later.

What does a flight plan look like?

Here are two typical examples of a flight plan for earning dual degrees.

Sample A

Fall 2008 (Law)14 law course credits
Spring 2009 (Law)14 law course credits

Summer 2009 Attend graduate program

Fall 2009 Attend graduate program full-time
Spring 20010 Attend graduate program full-time
Summer 2010 Attend graduate program and earn the graduate degree

Fall 20010 (Law) 15 law course credits, including Professional Responsibility + one upperclass writing credit
Spring 2011 (Law) 15 law course credits + one skills credit

Fall 2011 (Law) 14 law course credits + one intensive writing credit

(Since you have now completed all requirements for both the J.D. and the other degree, we will award you 12 credits and one upperclass writing credit for work done in the graduate program, and you will have earned the 84 course credits needed for law school graduation).

 

Sample B

Fall 2008 (Law)14 law course credits
Spring 2009 (Law)14 law course credits

Fall 2009 (Law)15 law course credits, including Professional Responsibility and 1 Skills Credit
Spring 2010 (Law)15 law course credits, including 1 Intensive Writing Credit

Summer 2010 Graduate program
Fall 2010 Graduate program
Spring 2011 Graduate program
Summer 2011 Graduate program

Fall 2011 (Law) 14 law course credits, including 1 Writing Credit

(Since you have now completed all requirements for both the J.D. and the other degree, we will award you 12 credits and one upperclass writing credit for work done in the graduate program, and you will have earned the 84 course credits needed for law school graduation).

What about writing and skills credits?

As you know, you need 3 writing credits, of which one must be “intensive”, and 1 skills credit, as well as Professional Responsibility, to graduate from law school. The Faculty has approved granting 1 writing credit to a student who earns a graduate degree through a dual degree program. See Rule 14.2. We strongly urge you to take the two writing credits (one of them intensive) that you must do in the law school in separate semesters.

What if I earned graduate credit before I entered law school?

The American Bar Association Law School Accreditation Standards state that credit can be given toward the J.D. degree only for work done after “matriculation” at Law School. This means that we cannot give you credit toward the J.D. degree for work done in another program before you enrolled in the Law School. Nevertheless, you will be fine so long as you have at least 12 course credits left to earn in the graduate program. Students at or near this borderline should consult with us. Of course, a student who has already earned a graduate degree cannot use that degree as part of a dual degree program with the Law School.

Will my grades in the graduate program count in my Law School grade-point average, or vice versa?
No. Instead, you will have two separate grade-point averages. The graduate programs are sufficiently different from law school that it would not be fair to have you combine graduate courses with law school courses.

It takes a while to get a transcript that lists separate grade-point averages for law school and graduate school courses. If you expect that you will need such a transcript, for instance, to interview for summer or permanent positions, please give plenty of warning. In that way, she can accomplish the many steps that are needed to get you an accurate transcript.

Please do not yield to the temptation of trying to use a transcript that shows a combined grade-point average. We regard this as unfair to employers and to your fellow students, and we will consider you in violation of our disciplinary rules, and liable to disciplinary action by the law school.

When will I be able to participate in law school graduation?

Keep in mind that, as the flight plans above show, you will not be able to graduate with your original entering class. That is because you will be taking time off from your law school program to complete the graduate program. The fact that you may have finished all of your law school courses does not make you eligible to graduate; under Rutgers University rules, you may not participate in our graduation exercises until you have actually earned the J.D. degree. If graduating and participating in graduation exercises with your original first-year Law School class is very important to you, then you should not enroll in a dual degree program. But let us remind you that you will be able to earn the law degree and the graduate degree more quickly in a dual degree program than if you enroll in the two programs separately.

Your flight plans don't work for me. What should I do?

We recognize that our flight plans won't work for all. For instance, it may be that the graduate program requires additional course work to earn the graduate degree. Or it may be that you are a part-time student at the law school. In any case, if you can’t use one of our flight plans, draw one up of your own.

Keep in mind the following points in designing your flight plan:

  • You need eighty-four course credits to graduate our law school. You do not earn law school credits for courses taken in a graduate school as you take them. Instead, when you complete the graduate degree, we grant you twelve law school course credits toward your law degree. This is illustrated by the flight plans above.

     

  • You should try to minimize cross-registration in the graduate school courses and in law school courses during the same semester. We have found that cross-registration is difficult for students, and presents administrative complexities. We do allow cross-registration for students in limited situations (for instance, to help you meet your flight plan for graduation, or to help you take a course that is vital to your program). We recommend you seek academic advice before planning to cross-register. If you have questions about this, please put them in writing to Associate Dean Adam F. Scales.

     

  • As you know, you may not take more than sixteen credits per semester in the law school (seventeen if one is a non-course credit). Graduate courses count toward these limits. So you cannot, for instance, take eighteen credits of graduate courses, or combine twelve law school credits with six graduate credits (even assuming that we would allow you to cross-register). Graduate courses also count toward the limits on employment. So you must file an employment affidavit if you are taking twelve or more credits in the graduate program, just as you must if you are taking twelve or more credits in the Law School.

     

  • Some of the graduate programs allow you to earn graduate credit by taking courses in a compressed "winterim," a short intensive term in December and January. The winterim overlaps with the opening weeks of the law school's Spring Semester, and so we do not allow you to enroll in both the winterim and the following law school Spring Semester. But you may enroll in the winterim and then in the graduate program the following semester.

     

  • Try to construct your program so that you are not earning the graduate degree and your law school degree in the same semester; doing so causes administrative problems.

     

  • It is generally best if your final semester is in the law school so that you can re-acclimate yourself to the study of law before taking the bar.

     

    If you have questions, please e-mail Associate Dean Adam Scales at afs92@camden.rutgers.edu.

    We want to encourage and help you to pursue a dual degree if you have a genuine interest in doing so. We look forward to working with you.