Law Degrees Online
For those with busier schedules and commitments outside of their education, earning a more convenient hybrid Juris Doctorate may be the best route to take. The Covid pandemic pushed the American Bar Association to adjust its accrediting policies to include some online law schools, which it had never done before. Now it is accrediting law degree programs that include some online classes.
law degrees online
California is the only state allowing full-online law school graduates to take the Bar Exam. In all other states, the exam may only be taken by students who have graduated from an ABA-accredited in-person or hybrid program. Edsmart has compiled a list of ABA-accredited online law schools and a list of cheapest online colleges offering law degrees to help you navigate the world of choices you have before you.
Leading up to that Juris Doctorate, however, you can still complete the undergraduate prerequisites online, and plenty of options are available. EDsmart has gathered a list of the best pre-law majors for you to peruse and choose from here.
For many adults, going back to school to get a law degree can seem like a far-fetched dream. You may think that trying to balance your career and family life is already hard enough and that there is no way a four-year program will be able to fit into your schedule. If you would like to pursue a law degree while still being able to continue your career, an online program may be the right option for you.
Even with the flexibility and convenience of online instruction, going back to school to earn your law degree online can seem overwhelming at times. Here are a few tips to help you successfully achieve your new goal:
At St. Francis School of Law, we take pride in our four core values: quality, integrity, transparency, and innovation. We know that choosing the right law school is a big decision. We work hard to give each and every one of our students the best online learning experience available. We truly understand the needs of our students and understand the challenges that many students face while completing their education while maintaining their careers, and we are dedicated to helping you succeed.
The law school programs are fully online or hybrid, which gives working professionals and students who have personal obligations the flexibility they need to learn and obtain new skills with minimal disruption to their already full lives.
Earn your doctorate in law without the regulatory hurdles of a Juris Doctor degree. Build your legal expertise at a law school online through concentrations in business, education, health, and technology.
Concord is not on the list of schools approved by the American Bar Association. The ABA Standards for the Approval of Law Schools currently do not allow for JD programs that are delivered fully online.
Our renowned faculty, which consists of legal experts in specialties from business law to international law, receives extensive training in online education and pedagogy, and all professors are fully certified to teach online.
The online J.D. program will consist of 50% synchronous and 50% asynchronous teaching methods for the first-year curriculum. Upper-level courses may be offered as a combination of synchronous and asynchronous methods, or fully asynchronous with heightened requirements for student interaction and stricter enrollment caps.
Online students are invited to visit campus and participate in any on-campus activities or meet with faculty and staff for assistance, at any time during their degree program. Online students will also be able to complete externships, pro bono activities and non-clinic experiential learning in the online environment. Faculty and staff will be fully available to online students through virtual office hours, email, and individual Zoom meetings. Our faculty prides itself on an open-door policy that we are eager to extend to our online cohort.
Not every elective course in the course directory will be offered in an online format every semester. However, students will have significant advance notice of elective availability for each upcoming semester, and will receive course advising that maximizes their educational opportunities based on interest and career goals.
As an online student, you will take a planned curriculum designed to teach you the foundations of substantive law and the applications of legal writing and analysis. You will always have the option of taking an in-person course, but it is not required for completion of the degree. To ensure that our online students receive a quality educational experience, our online cohort will be capped at 25 students.
The ABA has recently begun allowing law students to complete more credits online. Law schools across the country are eagerly stepping in to create innovative "hybrid" programs that allow students to earn their Juris Doctor degree largely from home.
A hybrid J.D. program allows students to complete the bulk of their coursework online, and to fulfill the classroom portion of their studies during several concentrated on-campus residencies that generally last several days. At the completion of these ABA-accredited programs, graduates will receive the same degree they would've earned at an on-campus law program and are qualified to sit for the bar exam.
Historically, a main component of earning a law degree has been participating in classroom discussions and exercises that are based on the Socratic method. This allows professors to lead dialogues that challenge students' assumptions and understanding of legal concepts. In the past, these exercises have been a challenge to reproduce in an online forum.
However, several schools have been working to implement technology solutions that allow for more real-time discussion. That has been a big motivator for the ABA to begin granting waivers to a small handful of law schools, allowing their J.D. programs to incorporate significantly more online credits than in the past. In addition, some schools are avoiding the need for the ABA waiver by offering hybrid law programs that restructure the online/on-campus mix to allow students to complete their law degree in a more flexible way, while retaining full eligibility to sit for the bar after graduation. (See the second half of this post to learn more.)
Online study is completed in 11- or 12-week-long semesters. This portion of the program is generally asynchronous, meaning students can work largely at their own pace, on their own time. However, there are weekly scheduled online discussions. Tuition is the same as the on-campus law program. Applications are accepted all year, but there are a limited number of seats in the hybrid program. Learn more here.
This online hybrid J.D. program can be completed in three years and eight months. It's designed to allow students to maintain their professional and/or caregiving responsibilities while attending law school.
The curriculum is taught by the same School of Law faculty who teach on-campus. Taught using the Socratic method, the program features live online classes (meaning students will need to ensure the class times fit into their schedules) and asynchronous interactive coursework that can be completed on their own time. Students must also attend 10 on-campus residences during the program and complete a semester-long externship.
UNH's Franklin Pierce School of Law has long been known as a top school for intellectual property, attracting students from around the world. Its new hybrid program is intended to appeal to working professionals in the tech and IP fields. While students can complete the bulk of their studies online, they are required to participate in on-campus residencies four time per year, for four-day sessions.Learn more about the program here.
Some schools have avoided the waiver requirement by creating or restructuring existing hybrid programs to offer the maximum amount of online learning permitted under the existing rules, but also provide flexible scheduling that gives non-traditional students access to a legal education.
Because Touro Law observes the Sabbath on Saturday, students attend campus every other Sunday during fall, spring, and summer semesters for the first two years. The second two years of coursework can be completed primarily online.
The University of Denver's Sturm College of Law has the oldest part-time JD program in the country, and it's ranked #11 by U.S. News & World Report. They recently restructured the program as a hybrid on-campus and online program.
The program, ranked #14 in the country by U.S. News & World Report, takes four years to complete and requires on-campus class attendance every other weekend during the semester. The remaining coursework is completed through the university's highly interactive, collaborative online learning platform.
Based in Newark, New Jersey, Seton Hall Law School's part-time hybrid program requires eight weekends on campus each semester during the first two years of the program. Instruction between weekends takes place on Seton Hall's online learning platform and includes self-directed activities as well as discussions with professors and classmates.
The online Master of Arts in Law will help you gain expertise in legal issues that intersect with your career field and strengthen your marketability. Taught from a Christian worldview, our M.A. in Law offers numerous concentrations that allow you to customize your graduate program in law to better understand the regulations that affect your career. Build on foundational legal studies courses in theory, writing, and critical thinking so you may effectively operate within a government, corporate, nonprofit, or legal environment, providing an astute legal perspective to those you lead and serve.
Awarded an A+ for Best Value by The International Jurist (2017), the Master of Laws in American Legal Studies, offered online and on campus, is designed for graduates of accredited institutions outside the United States who have already earned a J.D.-equivalent law degree and want to pursue studies in American law. With this challenging degree, you will be able to learn the influences of law, policy, and government around the globe, meeting the significant demand by international lawyers for training in American law. 041b061a72