Summary: Albany Law School is the latest school to form their own version of a two-year juris doctor program.
The private law school happily situated in Albany, New York is making it easier for their students to earn a law degree. The program, aimed at serving engineers, doctors, health care administrators, and other related professionals, will begin in January. Albany Law School is hoping that the ability to save one year of tuition will be a big attraction for prospective students.
President and dean Alicia Oullette said, “We recognize that the world is changing and potential students have different needs.” The program helps students avoid being out of the workforce for three years. The law school received feedback from prospective students saying they wanted a more flexible way to earn a law degree for careers in patent and health care law.
Read Buffalo Law School Offers Two-Year Law Degree.
They hope to attract 22 students to the program. They enrolled 415 students last fall so Ouellette acknowledged that reaching 22 may take a couple years. The program will be highly-selective, only considering students with strong undergraduate records. Preference will be given to students that have at least two years of work experience. The students must complete 87 credits to graduate.
Students accepted into the program will not be eligible for school scholarships. Tuition will be raised 3 percent this fall to be $44,546. It is the first increase at the school in four years.
See Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law to Offer Law Degree in Two Years.
The law school also created a one-year graduate certificate program for students that are not lawyers but need legal training for their careers in health care, entrepreneurship and emergency preparedness.
There are around 15 other law schools that offer two-year juris doctor programs. Do you think two-year programs are the future for law schools? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
To learn more about two-year programs, read The Two-Year J.D. Program: A Critical Option for Some Students.
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