Policies & Rules — Residency and Course-Load Rules
Our residence and course-load rules satisfy the requirements of the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools. The purpose of the residency requirements is to assure that the study of law will be spread evenly over a minimum period of six semesters or the equivalent.
Our rules regarding the size of a student's course load -- the number of hours a student enrolls for in a given semester -- and our residency rules -- are not the same.
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Residency Rules
The residency requirement means you may not graduate in less than six semesters or the equivalent. If you plan to attend summer school for two years and graduate a semester before most of the members of your class you should visit with the Associate Dean concerning your summer course loads.
For residency purposes a minimum load of twelve hours is required for a semester. For purposes of accelerated graduation, minimum residency hours for a summer session are five if combined with another summer session of no less than seven hours. Two summer sessions of six hours each serve the same purpose. If fewer hours are taken in a summer session, they may not be used toward residency for the purpose of accelerated graduation but may be combined with an appropriate number of hours in a regular semester in order to fulfill a twelve hour semester residency requirement.
Students completing more than twelve hours in a semester may not use surplus hours over twelve toward residency in any other session; hence the three surplus hours from a fifteen hour semester cannot be added to a subsequent nine hour semester to give residency for two semesters. On the other hand, a nine hour semester can be combined with a three hour summer session to give residence for one semester.
In cases of extreme hardship the Faculty may make a slight variance in the residency requirements, but cannot go below the standards set by the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools.
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Course-Load Rules
The maximum number of hours permitted for a semester is seventeen (17), and seven (7) for a summer session, unless the Associate Dean for good cause approves a heavier load. The minimum number of hours permitted for a semester in order to be considered a full-time student is twelve (12). There is no minimum for the summer session.
Taking more than the normal maximum semester load of seventeen hours, or less than the minimum semester load of twelve hours requires good cause and approval of the Associate Dean, but such approval does not in any way change the residency requirements.
