The College of Business Administration and the College of Law offer a coordinated dual program leading to the conferral of both the Doctor of Jurisprudence and the Master of Business Administration. The dual program saves the student approximately 15 hours (one semester) over the time that would be required to earn both degrees independently.
The establishment of the dual program recognizes the increasingly complex body of knowledge necessary to the creative conduct of business and business-related law practice, the complementary nature of many aspects of the graduate programs of the College of Law and the College of Business Administration, and the intellectual benefits inherent in the concurrent study of both business and business-related law. The program is designed to accommodate the interests of students who (a) contemplate a career in public service and want to acquire the skills and perspective of the lawyer and the business-oriented manager; (b) contemplate a career in business management and want to acquire the skills and perspective of a lawyer; or (c) contemplate a career as a lawyer specializing in business-related law and want to acquire the skills and perspective of the business-oriented manager.
Applicants for the JD-MBA program must make separate application to, and be competitively and independently accepted by, the College of Law for the JD, the Office of Graduate Admissions, and the College of Business Administration for the MBA degree, and by the Dual Program Committee.
Students who have been accepted by both colleges may apply for approval to pursue the dual program anytime prior to, or after, matriculation in either or both colleges. Such approval will be granted, provided that dual program studies are started prior to entry into the last 28 hours of JD course work and prior to the third semester of the MBA program. Students interested in entering the dual degree program should submit a letter of application to the Dual Program Committee. Upon receipt of the application, the Dual Program Committee will determine eligibility and assign students to advisors who will be responsible for course approval and supervision of the student’s progress through the dual program.
A dual program candidate must satisfy the graduation requirements of each college. Students withdrawing from the dual program before completion of both degrees will not receive credit toward graduation from either college for courses in the other college, except as such courses qualify for credit without regard to the dual program.
The College of Law will award up to 9 hours of credit toward the JD for acceptable performance in approved graduate-level courses offered by the College of Business Administration. The College of Business Administration will award up to 6 hours of credit toward the MBA for acceptable performance in approved courses offered in the College of Law. The approval of courses is the responsibility of the Dual Program Committee and the student’s assigned advisor.
Students may begin their studies in either the JD or the MBA program, but may not enroll in MBA course work while completing the first year of the law curriculum and may not enroll in JD course work while completing the first year of the business curriculum. During the first year in the JD program, students register through the College of Law. During the first year in the MBA program, students register as graduate students. After the first two years, any term in which students take law courses or a mixture of law and graduate courses, they are classified and registered as law students. If taking only graduate courses, they are classified and registered as graduate students. A total of 45 hours is required for the MBA degree (39 MBA hours plus 6 hours accepted from the JD program).
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 hours approved by the College of Law. The 6 hours of law courses in which the student has earned a 2.3 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.
