Taking Courses Outside the Law School
Under College of Law rules, students may take work in other law schools and in other graduate programs toward satisfaction of the degree requirements of the College of Law. If you wish to take advantage of this opportunity, please review the following information with care. The purpose of this College policy is to enable you to enrich your legal studies in specially tailored ways. Generally speaking, you may take a maximum of eight semester credit hours outside the law school.
Keep in mind that a three quarter credit hour course will earn you only two semester credits, and only the credit transfers, not the grade. In order to receive the credit, you will need to provide an official copy of your transcript to the College of Law Registrar when the course is completed.
Taking Courses at Another Law School
Students who wish to take course work at another law school towards satisfaction of the degree requirements must submit a written request to the Associate Dean. The request must:
- name the law school you wish to attend;
- name the course and provide a course description; and
- set forth in detail the reasons for the request.
Requests to take work at another law school are customarily approved where the law school is a member of the Association of American Law Schools, and when the particular course requested is not offered by the University of Cincinnati College of Law; when the course is a summer school course, or when a program of foreign study sponsored by another law school is requested.
In order to receive credit for work taken at another law school, you must receive a “C” or better for the work, and you must arrange for an official transcript to be sent to the College Registrar, Charlene Carpenter, following completion of the course. Courses taken at other law schools retain their character as classroom credit hours or non-classroom credit hours when they are accepted in satisfaction of degree requirements at the College of Law.
Taking Courses at Northern Kentucky University Salmon Chase College of Law
The process for taking coursework at NKU Chase College of Law is the same as outlined in Section A. In addition, if you wish to take advantage of the consortium arrangement which allows you to pay UC tuition rather than NKU tuition, you must obtain a consortium form from Charlene Carpenter. Submit it with your request to have it signed by the Associate Dean, and return it to Ann Creekmore on the 5th floor of the University Pavilion.
Taking Graduate Level Courses (non-Joint Degree)
Non joint degree students who wish to take course work in another graduate program toward satisfaction of the degree requirements of the College of Law must submit a written request to the Associate Dean. The request must:
- name the school and the department you wish to attend;
- name the course and provide a course description; and
- set forth in detail the reasons for the request.
Requests are customarily approved when the course does not duplicate a course offered at the College of Law and when you can state a reasonable relationship between the course and your legal studies. Foreign language courses and science courses generally do not meet the requirement of being law-related, even though they might be very helpful in some areas of law practice.
In order to receive credit for work taken in a graduate program, you must receive a “C” or better for the work and you must arrange for an official transcript to be sent to the College Registrar. For U.C. graduate courses, arrange for a “campus copy” to be sent. Under faculty policy, graduate credit hours are considered non-classroom credit hours unless you are enrolled in a joint degree program.
Taking Graduate Level Courses (Joint Degree)
Students who wish to pursue a joint degree are subject to special rules; please schedule an appointment with the Associate Dean if you are interested in the JD/MBA, the JD/MA in Women's Studies, the JD/MA or PhD in Political Science, the JD/MSW in Social Work, the JD/MCP (Community Planning) or another joint degree program.
Taking Individual Work at an Institution Outside the United States
Rules for taking work at other law schools and in other graduate programs also apply to individual study in institutions outside the United States. In addition to the requirements noted above in Section A, the ABA has special criteria for approval of academic credit which the College of Law must implement. Students wishing to study abroad for academic credit are advised to seek approval to enroll in foreign institutions well in advance of the period of study. Approval of the full faculty is necessary. Students who wish to pursue this option should make an appointment with the Associate Dean to review ABA and College approval requirements.
The College of Law wishes all students to achieve the following educational objectives when pursuing study at a foreign institution
- To enable students to examine legal issues from different geo-political perspectives
- To expose students to the historical development of law in varying cultural settings
- To offer students a comparative law experience and a wider selection of international course work
- to introduce students to the operation of law in different countries
If you want to participate in an approved program of foreign study sponsored by another law school, follow the guidelines in Section A above. The ABA special criteria apply only when you are requesting approval for course work in a foreign institution which only you will take.