The information here may reflect program requirements for future academic years. If you are a current student and would like to see the current or prior years’ requirements for this program, please see the University Catalog.
Minimum Total Credits Required for Joint Degree: JD/MBA joint degree candidates must complete a total of 120 semester credits of coursework. These 120 semester credits include 72 semester hours of coursework in the College of Law and 48 semester credits of Atkinson School course work.
Minimum Law Credits Required by the College of Law: As per College of Law regulations, all JD/MBA students must complete at least 72 credit hours of coursework at WUCL, 59 hours of which must be letter-graded; Co-curricular and transfer courses do not count toward the 72 credit requirement. Students should always consult with staff at WUCL regarding law degree requirements.
Minimum MBA Credits Required by the Atkinson School: JD/MBA students must satisfactorily complete a minimum of forty-eight (48) approved credits of MBA course work and have no pending grades or grades of "Incomplete." The forty-eight (48) credits of MBA course work must include thirty-eight (38) credits of required courses (which includes a 4 credit Experiential Elective course), and a minimum of ten (10) additional credits of elective course work.
A student who begins the Joint Degree JD/MBA program at WUCL will normally take all the required first-year law courses during that year.
While enrolled in the first-year law program, students will take no AGSM courses. A student can request an exception to this prohibition from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs & Administration, who will consult with AGSM administration.
A 2.30 grade point average (GPA) must be maintained by a law student in the first year of law school in order to be eligible for the program, and once a Joint Degree student, the student must maintain a 2.30 average throughout law school to remain in the program. Joint Degree JD/MBA students who become ineligible under this rule, but have a grade point average of 2.10 or above at the end of the first year of the law curriculum, may elect to continue as regular law students or seek the two degrees in the normal five years. This rule shall not affect eligibility to continue as a regular AGSM student.
Required First-Year Curriculum. All first-year students are required to attend the Orientation program. The first-year curriculum consists of the required courses listed below.
Fall | Spring |
|---|---|
LAW101 - Civil Procedure LAW103 - Contracts I LAW105 - Lawyering I LAW109 - Torts Total Hours (16) | LAW104 - Contracts II LAW106 - Lawyering II LAW108 - Property LAW111 - Constitutional Law I LAW114 - Criminal Law LAW119 - (if required) or 2 credit elective (optional) Total Hours (14-16) |
Students Matriculating in Fall 2024 and Beyond (Graduating in 2027 and Beyond)
Upon the completion of the first semester of studies at the law school, students with a cumulative GPA of 2.90 or below are required to take LAW119 - Applied Legal Analysis I (Spring) in the spring semester of their 1L year.
All students in these catalog years are required to take LAW279 - Advanced Training in Legal Skills in the first semester of their 2L year, unless they score a sufficiently high score on the 1L diagnostic test. (The score may change annually and will be announced each year.)
Students Matriculating in 2023 and Graduating in 2026 and Beyond
Upon the completion of the first semester of studies at the law school, students with a cumulative GPA of 2.55 or below are required to complete LAW119 - Applied Legal Analysis I (Spring) in the spring semester of their 1L year.
Students with a cumulative GPA below 2.65 are required to take LAW279 - Advanced Training in Legal Skills, but may be relieved of this requirement with a sufficiently high score on the 1L diagnostic test. Please contact the Associate Dean for Student Affairs & Administration to discuss a waiver of this requirement.
Upper-Division Curricular Requirements
The School of Law’s upper-division JD curricular requirements balance the need to ensure that all students receive a common foundation in fundamental subject matter and legal skills, while supporting students in exploring their areas of interest. Students are encouraged to make a complete curricular plan in SAGE in spring of their 1L year, review their plan against the requirements below, and continue to adjust their plan as needed throughout their 2L and 3L year in consultation with their advisor and their certificate program director, if applicable.
All students, regardless of catalog year, cumulative GPA, or the results of their diagnostic assessment, must meet the following requirements to graduate:
Complete LAW106 - Professional Responsibility in their 2L year;
Complete the Experiential Learning Requirement;
Complete the Graduation Writing Requirement;
Complete the appropriate required upper-division courses (see below). Required courses must be taken at Willamette University College of Law.
Complete a total of 90 credits, 70 of which must be letter-graded and no more than 7 of which may be co-curricular, with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.30.
Students should reference the appropriate section below, depending upon their catalog year, to determine their required upper-division courses.
Waivers to academic requirements will not be granted because a person is not taking a bar, or because they are taking a bar in a jurisdiction where different topics are tested. Generally, only irreconcilable scheduling conflicts with other required classes would potentially justify the grant of a waiver of required courses listed in this section, but such waiver can only be granted by the Student Petitions Committee. Waiver requests are submitted to the Committee via the Associate Dean for Student Affairs & Administration. Decisions of the Committee are final.
Students graduating in 2026 or beyond are required to complete the following courses:
LAW213 - Evidence
LAW214 - Real Estate Transactions
LAW252 - Constitutional Law II
LAW334 - Criminal Procedure I
LAW202 - Business Organizations
LAW208 - Family Law
LAW279 - Advanced Training in Legal Skills (previously ALA II), if applicable (refer to section III.B. above)
LAW640 - Legal Analysis for the Bar (last semester)
LAW278 - Negotiation or LAW 272 - Client Interviewing/Counseling. This requirement may also be fulfilled by taking at least four credits from the following courses:
Required MBA courses: The thirty-eight (38) credits of required courses are listed below.
GSM5103 - Data Analysis, Modeling & Decision Making (3 credits)
GSM5104 - Managing Individuals, Teams, and Organizations (3 credits)
GSM5105 - Accounting for Managers (3 credits)
GSM5107 - Marketing: Creating Satisfied Consumers (3 credits)
GSM5108 - PACE I: Practical Application for Careers and Enterprises (3 credits)
GSM5109 - PACE II: Practical Application for Careers and Enterprises (4 credits)
GSM5111 - Finance and Economics I (3 credits)
GSM5112 - Finance and Economics II (3 credits)
GSM5114 - Operations and Systems Management (3 credits)
GSM6121 - Politics & Public Policy for Managers (3 credits)
GSM6123 - Strategic Management (3 credits)
GSM 6xxx - Experiential Elective (4 credits)
Elective Courses: JD/MBA students are required to complete a minimum of ten (10) credits of elective course work (in addition to the four-credit Experiential Elective requirement) for graduation.
Required Experiential Elective: A minimum of four (4) credits from an Experiential Elective course is required for graduation and is shown in the list of required courses. Experiential Elective courses are special elective courses that include a meaningful interaction with organizations or environments, input from the organizations or environments that affects the completion of a deliverable for the class, and an opportunity for students to formally reflect on the factors which led to the success or failure of the experiential activity. Experiential Elective courses are designated by the faculty and are identified on the schedule of classes. Students can take more than one Experiential Elective if they choose.
Integrated Knowledge Experience Week (IKEW) Exercises: JD/MBA students must satisfactorily complete the IKEW requirement of the MBA program.
Students must complete 120 credit hours which must be taken in no less than three-and-a-half academic years; An academic year consists of a fall and spring semester (Summer and Intersession credits may be applied towards the joint degree, but cannot accelerate the program to less than three-and-a-half academic years). In addition, the candidate must complete the MBA degree within six (6) years from date of initial enrollment in the degree program.
JD/MBA students must meet all academic regulations and graduation requirements governing the MBA program unless specifically described in these regulations. JD/MBA degree candidates must have also completed all graduation requirements of the JD degree as stipulated by the School of Law (including upper-level courses, experiential learning, and the GWR) to be eligible for MBA graduation from the Atkinson School.
All Joint Degree JD/MBA students must complete at least 72 credit hours of coursework at the School of Law, 59 hours of which must be letter-graded; Co-curricular and transfer courses do not count toward the 72 credit requirement
Grades received in either of the two schools shall not be used in arriving at grade point averages or class standings in the other school. Students in their dedicated year at AGSM will not receive a law school ranking.
Regulations governing the courses for the JD or the MBA program at either school shall apply unless inconsistent with these joint regulations.
Joint degree students should be alert to the possibility that conflicts may exist between courses required to graduate. Students are not permitted to register for courses with conflicting class times. For this reason, joint degree students should work very closely with advisors at both schools in order to plan out their pathway to graduation.
Students may not reschedule a law final exam because of a conflict with an AGSM class unless the law exam conflicts with an in-class graded presentation by that student.
JD/MBA candidates for graduation must have a cumulative Atkinson School grade point average of 3.00 (B) or higher, comply with requirements determined by the school's faculty, and be in Good Standing within all policies of the Atkinson School and Willamette University.
JD/MBA students may apply a maximum of seven (7) credits from a combination of GSM Internship for Management, Independent Study and Research courses toward MBA graduation requirements.
Candidates for graduation must submit a "petition for degree" at the beginning of their final semester in the JD/MBA program
In the event the curriculum or graduation requirements are changed, the rules in effect at the time of the student's entry to the program will apply unless otherwise stated.
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