Academic Regulations
The Juris Doctor ( J.D.) degree is awarded by the College of Law faculty to candidates who meet the following requirements:
For students matriculating before the fall 2013 semester, each student must successfully complete (grade of “D-” or better for courses taken at this school, grade of ‘C’ or better for courses taken elsewhere) 89 credit hours (required for graduation) in accordance with the official curriculum as adopted by the College of Law faculty. At least 58 of these credits must be completed at the University of Wyoming College of Law. For students matriculating in or after the fall 2013 semester, each student must successfully complete (grade of “D-” or better for courses taken at this school, grade of “C” or better for courses taken elsewhere) 90 credit hours (required for graduation) in accordance with the official curriculum as adopted by the College of Law faculty. Curriculum is subject to change at the College of Law Faculty’s discretion, which may cause the annually updated catalog to be out of date. At least 59 of these credits must be completed at the University of Wyoming College of Law. Regardless of the matriculation date, students must complete at least 76 credit hours through graded (A-F) courses. Courses taken for S/U grades count toward the hours required for the J.D. degree only if the course is offered for the S/U grade only.
The course of study must be completed no earlier than 24 months (2 years) and not later than 84 months (7 years) after a student has commenced law study. No student shall be permitted to enroll at any time in coursework that, if successfully completed, would exceed 20 percent (18 hours) of the total coursework required for graduation.
Second and third year students may take up to six of 90 hours required for graduation in non-law school graduate level courses (online courses will not be approved) and apply them toward their law degree. Those students enrolled in a joint degree program may take up to 9 hours required for graduation in non-law school graduate level courses (online courses will not be approved) and apply them toward their law degree. Students must receive a letter grade of B or better for these non-law courses to count toward graduation requirements. Additionally, these courses will transfer in with a satisfactory grade of ‘S’ and will not impact their law school gpa. The College of Law automatically approves up to 9 hours of joint degree core courses that meet this grade requirement to transfer in toward their law degree (see Joint Degree section). If additional courses are needed outside of the core courses, these will be approved on a case-by-case basis. Students in a joint degree program who use 9 non-law credit hours toward their J.D. degree may reduce their required number of graded credits from 76 to 73 so that they can participate in other S/U offerings at the College of Law. To receive law school credit for the non-law course, a student will be required to earn a grade of B or better in the non-law course. The grade will not count, however, toward the student’s law school GPA. The course will be counted as a “satisfactory” grade for purposes of the student’s law school GPA. Students who wish to enroll in a non-law course on this basis must secure the prior approval of the course professor and the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the College of Law. Approval will be based on the student’s submission of a brief written statement explaining how the proposed coursework relates to and enhances the student’s legal education. Students should be aware that non-law courses completed on this basis will not count toward the 76 hours that students must complete in graded courses as a requirement for graduation. The non-law coursework will instead be counted as credits the law students are permitted to take on an S/U basis.
To graduate, all students must earn a cumulative grade point average of 2.000 for all courses taken at the College of Law. If a course is repeated, both grades shall be included in computing the average. The student must have a baccalaureate degree. Candidates who meet these requirements are eligible for graduation at the end of any semester.
A student in the joint Juris Doctor/Master of Public Administration program must be admitted to both the College of Law and College of Arts and Sciences. The degrees are awarded concurrently by each college upon successful completion of the combined degree program requirements. In fulfillment of the J.D. degree, the College of Law will accept up to nine hours of MPA credits in courses approved by the law faculty (see Academic Regulations). In fulfillment of the MPA degree, the College of Arts and Sciences will accept up to 12 hours of credits earned in specified courses in the J.D. program. For additional information regarding these joint degree programs, contact the College of Law or the joint program of interest.
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