Admissions Requirements
Candidates for the MSF-JD dual-degree program must apply and be admitted separately to each of the programs involved; admission to one has no official bearing upon admission to the other. Students must be admitted to both programs within a twelve month period. They need to plan ahead to appropriately schedule the LSAT and GMAT or GRE exams to meet the application deadlines. Students may be admitted to the MSF program starting in the Fall or Spring terms, but all law students must begin the first-year law sequence in the Fall term. (Note: Part-time students would complete the first-year law sequence in four terms, including summer, instead of two terms, however after the summer term part time law students have the power to take elective courses because in the fourth term they need only take one four credit course to complete the first year.)
Candidates for the MSF-JD dual-degree program must follow the separate application procedures of the Bauer College of Business and the UH Law Center. Upon acceptance to both programs, the applicant must petition the program directors for admission to the MSF-JD dual degree program. Each school has a designated academic advisor for the MSF-JD program to provide academic advising for dual-degree program students; the MSF-JD petition form is available from either advisor.
Coursework
Elective courses will be chosen to reflect the career interest of the student and the dual nature of the program, with guidance from academic advisors. The program director(s) may create detailed academic plans and recommended curricula for the dual-degree program, in collaboration with selected faculty and JD-MSF related administrators.
Upon completion of curriculum requirements for both degrees, 6 credit hours from the JD curriculum will apply towards the MSF degree (as elective credit) and 15 credit hours from the MSF curriculum will apply towards the JD degree, allowing full-time students to complete both degrees in 3.5 years.
MSF students who are petitioning for MSF-JD status must not have completed more than 24 credit hours of their required graduate business curriculum at the time of their enrollment in the JD program.
If a student starts the MSF-JD dual degree program in the fall, the first year of the dual degree program is preferably spent in the JD program. At the time the student petitions for admission to the dual-degree program, they will notify the MSF-JD program directors of their program selection. A student who starts in the spring would complete one term of finance courses and then enroll for the first-year law sequence in the subsequent fall and spring terms.
Students should consult with academic advisors and program directors about their curriculum. The final curriculum requires approval of the academic advisors. For information on feasible or recommended curriculum designs and course sequences, please visit these webpages:
https://www.bauer.uh.edu/graduate-studies/prospective-students/joint-degrees
https://www.law.uh.edu/academic/dual-degree.asp
The Law Center will accept a maximum of 15 credit hours from the MSF curriculum towards the 90 credit hours needed for the JD degree. Credit may not be given for course work taken before a student’s regular matriculation as a first-year student in the law program. Should the student fail to complete the MSF degree, he/she would be allowed to apply a maximum of 12 credit hours from the MSF curriculum towards the JD degree.
The Bauer College of Business will accept a maximum of 6 credit hours from the JD curriculum towards the 30 credit hours needed for the MSF degree. Should the student fail to complete the JD degree, he/she would be allowed to apply a maximum of 6 credit hours from the JD curriculum towards the MSF degree.
MSF-JD candidates will be charged MSF tuition and fees for their 24 semester credit hours of business courses, and JD tuition and fees for their 75 credit hours of law courses. Note: once admitted, Law students are charged certain fees every term until they graduate.
Grades earned for courses from the MSF curriculum will not be considered in computing the student’s overall average, class rank, or eligibility for honors in the Law Center. The effect shall be as if the courses were taken on a pass/fail basis. Likewise, grades earned for courses from the JD curriculum will not be considered in computing the student’s overall average, class rank, or eligibility for honors in the Bauer College of Business, or in determining whether the student is maintaining the 3.0 minimum graduate GPA required by the Bauer College of Business for graduation.
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