The the Department of Public Health (College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) and the College of Law offer a dual-degree program that reflects the interrelationship between the legal system and the protection and promotion of the public’s health. In particular, the program emphasizes the role that policy, public and private, plays in creating the conditions in which people can be healthy.

Concentrations and Options

Public Health (Required) — Health Policy and Management, Course Only with Comprehensive Exams

Law (Optional) — Advocacy and Dispute Resolution; Business Transactions

Campus Code

Knoxville Campus 

Admissions Standards/Procedures

• To be admitted to the dual-degree program, an applicant must have received a baccalaureate-level degree. The applicant must also apply and be admitted separately to the College of Law, the Office of Graduate Admissions and the MPH Program.
• For purposes of admission to the MPH-JD dual-degree program, the applicant only needs to take the LSAT (Law School Admission Test), but must submit the test scores to the College of Law and the MPH Program through the Office of Graduate Admissions online admissions portal. Applicants are welcome to submit their GRE scores if they so wish.

Academic Standards

• For grade recording purposes in the College of Law and the Department of Public Health, grades awarded in courses in the other unit will be converted to either Satisfactory/No Credit and will not be computed in determining a student’s GPA or class standing.
• The College of Law will award a grade of Satisfactory for an approved Public Health course in which the student earns a grade of B or higher and a grade of No Credit for any lower grade.
• The Public Health Department will award a grade of Satisfactory for an approved law course in which the student earns a grade of 2.70 or higher on a 4.30 scale and a grade of No Credit for any lower grade. The official academic record of the student maintained by the Office of the University Registrar shall show the actual grade assigned by the instructor without conversion.
• Different rules apply to students enrolled in the dual JD-MPH, JD-MBA, or JD-MPA Programs. Grades must be earned according to the grading system of the respective college, e.g. numerical grades for law courses but letter grades for graduate courses. Refer to the grading policy of the College of Law and the Department of Public Health, respectively, for the grading scale acceptable toward meeting degree requirements. Cumulative GPA for law courses only will be carried until graduation, at which time both graduate and law cumulative GPAs will be shown on the student’s permanent record
• MBA courses in which the student has earned a B grade or higher and are to be counted toward the JD program must include 9 credit hours approved by the College of Law. The 6 credit hours of law courses in which the student has earned a 2.30 or C+ grade or higher and are to be counted toward the MBA must be selected from those approved by the Executive Director of the MBA Program.
• During the first year of study, students will be solely enrolled in the prescribed curriculum for the College of Law.

Credit Hours Required

• 116 graduate credit hours
  • 89 credit hours for the JD that accepts 9 credit hours from the MPH, for 80 credit hours
  • 42 credit hours for the MPH that accepts 6 hours from the JD, for 36 credit hours

Required Courses

• Public Health—Health Policy and Management: See the requirements for the Master of Public Health  (MPH)
• Law: See the requirements for the Doctor of Jurisprudence  (JD)
• The College of Law will accept 9 credit hours from approved Public Health courses as electives and the Department of Public Health will accept 6 credit hours from approved Law courses as electives.
• To be eligible to receive the JD, candidates must earn at least 58 credit hours in residence at the College of Law.

Non-Course Requirements

• Students are required to pass a MPH comprehensive exam.
• All students are expected to be full-time students.
  • A student may not work in excess of 20 hours per week while attending school on a full-time basis.