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Distance Education Policy

1. JD students are allowed no more than 15 credits of distance education classes during a student’s time at UC Law, with no more than 6 credits being allowed in any given semester. The Associate Dean may waive these limits in individual cases if it is in the best interest of the student, their circumstances, and their professional goals.

2. Limits on the Amount of Distance Education Credits Taken by JD and LLM Students

  • (a) ABA Standard 311(e) allows a law school to grant up to 10 credit hours required for the JD degree for distance education courses during the first one-third of a student’s program of legal education. Under Standard 311(a) a law school must require students to take not fewer than 83 credit hours. At least 64 of these credit hours shall be in courses that require attendance in regularly scheduled classroom sessions or direct faculty instruction. Distance education classes can be included in this calculation.
  • (b) 1L courses cannot be offered as distance education courses. Upper-level bar courses will not be offered as distance education courses, except in exceptional circumstances as determined by the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs (hereinafter “Associate Dean”).
  • (c) JD students are allowed no more than 15 credits of distance education classes during a student’s time at UC Law, with no more than 6 credits being allowed in any given semester. The Associate Dean may waive these limits in individual cases if it is in the best interest of the student, their circumstances, and their professional goals.
  • (d) Students who are subject to Rule 9 must seek permission from the Associate Dean before they may enroll in a distance education class. The Associate Dean will grant permission only in exceptional circumstances.
  • (e) Any classes that UC Law students were required to take via distance education during the COVID 19 pandemic will not count as distance education courses for purposes of this policy.
  • (f) LLM students may only enroll in distance education classes with permission of the Assistant Dean of International Programs and the Associate Dean.
  • (g) An LLM student who transfers into the JD program will have any distance education classes taken during their LLM year count against the 15-credit limit of distance education classes imposed on JD students.