The College of William & Mary provides opportunities for graduate students to pursue two degrees simultaneously. Students enrolling in the Juris Doctor (J.D.) program at the Law School may also apply for admission to

• the Graduate School of Business Administration for the Master of Business Administration degree (M.B.A.);
• the Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy for the Master of Public Policy degree (M.P.P.); or
• the American Studies Program for the Master of Arts in American Studies degree (M.A.).

Each joint degree option permits the student to obtain two degrees in four years, instead of the five that would be required if each degree were pursued sequentially.

Application
Application and application fees must be made independently to each school. Admission to one school will be determined independently from the admission decision of the other. Recommendations from one school to the other will be considered in the same way as recommendations from college faculty.

Application to the Law School is to be made to the Law School Admission Office. The deadline for submission is March 1.

Candidates who are enrolled initially in the joint degree program must declare by May 15 their intent to begin the first year of study in either the Law School or the joint program. Students who are already enrolled at one school and accept a position at the other school must submit to the Associate Dean for Administration at the Law School and the Director of Admission of the joint program both their intention to enroll in the joint degree program and the designated semester chosen to enroll in the joint school by April 1 of the year entering the joint degree program.

Regular postal mail:
Admission Office
William & Mary School of Law
P.O. Box 8795
Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-8795

FedEx, UPS, etc. deliveries:
Admission Office
William & Mary School of Law
613 South Henry Street
Williamsburg, Virginia 23185

Phone: (757) 221-3785
Fax: (757) 221-3261
Email: lawadm|at|wm.edu

Plan of Study
The joint program may be initiated in any of the participating programs. However, the first year of law school must be taken as a whole and the Legal Skills Program at the Law School should be completed in sequence.

Elective courses intended to apply towards a degree may not be duplicated in the other school's curriculum. It is suggested that students consult with the faculty advisor at each school before enrolling in elective courses.

Each student is responsible for notifying in writing the Registrar and the financial aid administrator of each program of their plan of study. The notification must include a combined course enrollment plan for each semester, specifically identifying by semester the program at which the majority of the course work will occur.

Degree Requirements
The required course work in each program must be fulfilled.

No more than two hours of credit for law courses, other than Legal Skills, taken on a pass/fail basis may be applied towards the 75 credits required for the J.D. in either the J.D. - M.P.P. or J.D. - M.B.A. programs.

In general, academic performance at one school will not affect the student's academic status at the other school. Class rank, GPA, eligibility for membership in honor societies or other honors or awards, including eligibility for Law Review, will be determined independent of the grades received in the joint school. Joint degree candidates must earn a minimum of 65 credit hours through a letter grade at William & Mary Law School. To be eligible for Order of the Coif, joint degree candidates must be in the top 10 percent of their law class as determined by a cumulative GPA based on at least 57 credit hours of graded work at the Law School.

A student must achieve a 1.8 cumulative average at the end of the first year and a 2.0 semester and cumulative average in the second and third years of legal education.

Students must complete both the J.D. - M.B.A. and J.D. - M.P.P. degrees within four years of commencing studies in one of the participating schools. These joint degrees are awarded concurrently. Students seeking the J.D. - M.A. may earn the J.D. in three years and conclude their M.A. program in the semester following the awarding of the J.D. degree.

If a student begins a joint program and decides to pursue only one graduate degree, the student must meet the standard requirements for the graduate degree sought.

For specific information on each joint degree program, please click the appropriate link below.


  » J.D. - M.B.A.
  » J.D. - M.P.P.
  » J.D. - M.A.