• 83 total credits
  • 34 first-year credits
  • 49 credits in at least three upper-level academic terms
    • To gain the remaining 49 credits in three terms, students must complete an average of 16.33 credits per term.
    • Students who complete credit for co-op receive 8 total credits, bringing their remaining total credits to 41. To gain the remaining 41 credits in three terms, students must complete an average of 13.67 credits per term.
• 3 co-ops in a legal setting (fall-start transfer students need 2 co-ops)
• FlexJD co-op Requirements
• Upper-Level Rigorous Writing Requirement:
  • All JD students must fulfill the Upper-Level Rigorous Writing Requirement. There are specific deadlines you need to be aware of for the Upper-Level Rigorous Writing Requirement. Students can read the rule outlining the requirements and the deadlines here.
  • To have a piece of writing evaluated to fulfill this graduation requirement, please submit the Upper-Level Rigorous Writing Requirement Form. You may use writing from a class, clinic, or co-op. Please feel free to redact sensitive client information, as necessary. If your final term is an academic semester and you were not able to complete the rigorous writing requirement before the term begins, please submit a Writing Requirement Plan Form laying out your intended requirement completion plan no later than the Add Deadline of that semester.
• Public Interest Requirement 
  • Please complete the Public Interest Requirement Completion Form: Pro Bono or Directed Study Option if you did not fulfill the Public Interest Requirement with a Co-op or a Clinic.
• Required Upper-Level Courses:
  • Professional Responsibility
  • 6 credits of Experiential Education Courses:
    • At the start of each academic year, in consultation with the faculty, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs shall designate a list of experiential education courses to be offered to either first year or upper level students. In designating such courses, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the faculty shall review the criteria set forth in ABA Standards 303, 304 and 305 to determine whether a course qualifies as an experiential education course.
    • All candidates for the J.D. degree shall be required to complete a minimum of 6 credits from the list of experiential education courses so designated by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

*Please note: You may NOT use the same course to satisfy both the Experiential Education Requirement and the Upper-Level Writing Requirement. Meaning, you may not use a paper written in a course for your Experiential Education Requirement to also satisfy your Upper-Level Writing Requirement.

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Class of 2023 and Class of 2024 students should refer to their Student Handbook to review all academic requirements and rules that govern their time at NUSL. Notably, there are some important course credit requirements and limits that students need to be aware of as they select their upper-level coursework and develop academic plans.

Course Credit Requirements and Limits

Minimum Number of In-Class Credits

Students must earn a minimum of sixty-seven (67) credits in courses that require attendance in regularly scheduled classroom sessions or direct faculty instruction, including online J.D. coursework (“in-class credits”).  Students may seek a waiver to reduce this threshold to sixty-four (64) credits by contacting the Assistant Dean for Academic and Student Affairs.

Online J.D. Coursework Limits

Students may earn no more than twelve (12) credits of online course credits toward the J.D. degree, and may not earn more than eight (8) credits in any one term. *Credits taken during COVID-impacted terms do not count towards this credit cap*

This does not apply for the FlexJD program students.

Non-In-Class & Non-Law Credit Limits

Non-in-class work includes: directed study, moot court, law review, lawyering fellow positions, research/teaching assistant positions, public interest externships, Applied Learning Experience (JD/MPH) credits, independent field placement, and all non-law coursework. Unless granted a waiver to reduce the threshold for in-class credits to sixty-four (64) credits, students may earn no more than sixteen (16) credits of non-law and non-in-class work toward the J.D. degree in accordance with the following credit limits:

• Research Assistant Credit: Students may earn up to two (2) credits toward the J.D. degree for work as a research assistant.
• Teaching Assistant Credit: Students may earn up to two (2) credits toward the J.D. degree for work as a teaching assistant
• Directed Study Credit: Students may earn up to six (6) credits of Directed Study credit toward the J.D. degree, and may not earn more than three (3) credits of directed study in any one (1) upper-level academic term. A “Directed Study” was previously called an “Independent Study.”
• Moot Court Credit: Students may earn up to six (6) credits of moot court toward the J.D. degree.
• Credit for Co-op: Students may earn up to eight (8) credit hours toward the J.D. degree for a public interest, government, or judicial co-op. Students receive seven (7) credit hours for the co-op placement, which count as non-in-class credits subject to the sixteen (16) credit cap mentioned above. Students receive one (1) credit hour for the Reflections course, which counts as in-class credit not subject to the sixteen (16) credit cap.
• Independent Field Placement Credit: ABA Standard 304 covers credit for field placements and includes several requirements such as Lawyering experience, completion of prerequisites, and other requirements as mentioned in the hyperlink. Students are responsible for coordinating and finding the placement and the faculty supervisor.
• Public Interest Externship Credit: Students may earn up to six (6) credits of public interest externships toward the J.D. degree. This course is not scheduled to be offered in the near future, because of the availability of Credit for Co-op and Independent Field Placement.
• Non-Law School Course Credit: Students may earn up to twelve (12) credit hours toward the J.D. degree by successfully completing non-law school, graduate-level offerings in other branches of the University.

Taking Courses While on Co-op & Co-op For Credit

• During their first co-op term, students may earn up to three (3) credits total for directed study, moot court, law review, and/or a synchronous, intensive course of up to two (2) credits that generally meets outside of regular business hours (a “Givelber-type” course).  The Co-op Office must approve the student’s registration in the Givelber-type course.  Students may not enroll in asynchronous online courses during their first co-op term.
• During their second or third co-op terms, students may earn up to three (3) credits total for directed study, moot court, law review, a Givelber-type course (subject to Co-op Office approval), and/or an asynchronous online course, provided that they are not receiving credit for that co-op.  Students may enroll in a single asynchronous course of up to four (4) credits, provided that they are not receiving credit for that co-op and are not enrolled in any other credits while on co-op.
  •  The four-credit allowance for a single asynchronous online course is in effect for the academic years 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 and applies only to students entering in Fall 2020 or Fall 2021.
• During any co-op term in which co-op field placement credits are offered, students may earn a total of seven (7) field placement credits for one co-op that is at least 10 weeks in length and entails at least 350 hours of work. Only co-ops that are for non-profit, government, or judicial employers are eligible for credit.  Students will be graded on a credit/unsatisfactory basis.  Students seeking to earn credit must enroll in a concurrent one (1) credit, asynchronous, reflective seminar subject to honorific grading.  A student who is completing a for-credit co-op along with a reflective seminar may not register for any additional credits during that term.
• The above limits do not apply to intensive courses for which scheduled classes do not overlap with the co-op employment period.  To illustrate, a student may enroll in a two-week course in May and then begin a co-op after Memorial Day.

Starting 9/11/2023, Advising staff from the Office of Academic & Student Affairs will be available to answer advising questions every Monday in the Dockser Commons from 12:30pm-1:45pm.

If a student is interested in enrolling in a course that is not available at NUSL and is offered at another ABA approved law schoool, a student may have the option to enroll in the course and transfer the credit back to NUSL to count towards their JD. In this instance, the Director of Academic Advising is required to review the course beforehand for pre-approval. Furthermore, it is the important to note that students are responsible for all tuition and fees to the external law school for the course. If you have any questions or concerns about the process, please contact Matt Podgurski at m.podgurski@northeastern.edu.

FAQs