Juris Doctor (JD)

Academic Credits

Minimum

All candidates for the Juris Doctor degree must successfully complete a minimum of eighty-six (86) credits.

In-Class (or Direct Faculty Instruction) Requirement

At least sixty-four (64) of the eighty-six (86) credit hours must be in courses that require attendance in regularly scheduled classroom sessions or direct faculty instruction.

Regularly scheduled classroom session or direct faculty instruction credit hours may not include:

  1. course work taken outside the school of law (at both other institutions of higher education and other schools within the University of Connecticut);
  2. work in the field component of field placement clinics and any clinical fieldwork supervised by a person whose primary professional employment is not with the School of Law; including the Semester in DC and New York Pro Bono Scholars Program;
  3. individual field placements;
  4. field placements outside the United States either as part of a study abroad program or independently;
  5. special research projects;
  6. law review/journal credits; and
  7. moot court/mock trial competitions.

Regularly scheduled classroom session or direct faculty instruction credit hours may include:

  1. traditional lecture or seminar courses, and in-house clinics – including Advanced Fieldwork credits;
  2. distance education courses; and
  3. participation in approved study abroad programs.

These lists are not exhaustive.

Duration of Study

Minimum Study

The Faculty of the School of Law have set a minimum of five (5) regular semesters for full time students and a minimum of seven (7) regular semesters for part time students.

Maximum Study

The Faculty of the School of Law have set a maximum duration of study of five (5) years for full time students and six (6) years for part time students. Extension of these time periods to the limits is at the discretion of the Faculty Petitions Committee and are considered only in extraordinary circumstances.

Pace of Study

To demonstrate satisfactory academic progress, candidates for the Juris Doctor degree must maintain a minimum pace of study. This pace will vary according to a student’s year/division.

1L Full Time Students

Satisfactory Academic Progress is defined as 22 credit hours during a period of two consecutive required academic semesters.

Upper Level Full Time Students

Satisfactory Academic Progress is defined as 20 credit hours during a period of two consecutive required academic semesters.

All Part Time Students

Satisfactory Academic Progress is defined as 16 credit hours during a period of two consecutive required academic semesters.

Attempted Credit Requirement

All students must earn 75% of their cumulative attempted credits.1

1

Completion rate is equal to the number of completed credit hours divided by the number of attempted credits. Completed credit hours will include all credit hours for which a student has earned a final letter grade of (A-D, and P). Credit-hours that are transferred (grade of T) into the University and successfully articulated towards the completion of an educational program or part of a Dual Degree or approved Study Abroad program will be counted as both earned and attempted hours for the purpose of this standard. Courses that are listed as Failure (F), Incomplete (I) or No Grade Received (N) will be counted as attempted but not earned.

Leave of Absence

Pace of study is not calculated during semesters in which a student is on an approved leave of absence.

Grade Point Average

All candidates for the Juris Doctor degree must have a cumulative grade point of 2.30 for all work undertaken at the law school. In computing the average, no consideration is given to grades received for work completed at other schools, including other law schools, even though transfer credit has been given for such work.