Friday, November 22, 2013

University to offer 6-year combined college + law degree


The University of Iowa College of Law has established a new program which will enable students to begin law school after three years of undergraduate study. After six years, the student will have a J.D. degree, and credits earned in the first year of law school will count toward an undergraduate degree.

The school says this is not for everyone, but rather only for the "right" students.

Not only will the right students save a year of college tuition, they will also be able to look for work as Starbucks baristas a year sooner than law school graduates who spend four years getting their undergraduate degrees.

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4 comments:

artiger said...

I can see some logic in this, since tuition is always going up both at the under- and postgraduate level (I'll leave the judgment of the current supply of lawyers to everyone's own opinion). I can also relate from my specific instance though, as I was accepted to medical school in my third year of college, and I jumped on it for financial reasons as well (i.e., one less year of undergraduate tuition/fees, the long haul of medical school and residency). People do act a little surprised when they find out I don't have a bachelor's degree, but I remind them that I have the doctorate, which is the one that counts.

I was accepted in 1988, and if my memory serves correctly the number of medical school applicants was down around that time (perhaps fears of incorrect forecasts of physician oversupply?). I got lucky.

Skeptical Scalpel said...

As you may know, I recently wrote a post supporting your type of career path (3 years of undergraduate work) for med students. Here's the link: http://www.physiciansweekly.com/shorten-medical-school-3-years/

Henna said...

Re artiger's comment, that is how my dad finished dental school at age 23. He was accepted after two years of undergrad. At the time (late 50s) his university offered places in their medical and dental schools to top undergrads who had completed certain science courses by that time. It worked well for him and many others. No one has ever asked him why he doesn't have a bachelor's degree!

Skeptical Scalpel said...

Henna, I agree 100% that the undergrad degree does not matter for a doctor or probably just about any other occupation you can name.

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