northwestern california university school of law requirements

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Degree Requirements

Degree Program: Juris Doctor

Title Of Degree: Juris Doctor

The Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree is a graduate, professional doctorate degree that is conferred upon those who complete the school’s J.D. program.

Requirements:

The Juris Doctor Degree will be granted to individuals who have successfully completed all required terms of the law study program. It is the student’s responsibility to be sure that Bar eligibility requirements are followed.

Each term of the law study program must be completed within a period of 12 months. A typical term will include courses totaling 20 credits and will require a minimum of 300 hours of verified academic engagement and 600 hours of further study and preparation. Over the course of four terms, students must complete a minimum of 1200 hours of verified academic engagement and 2400 hours of further study and preparation.

Prerequisites/Admission Requirements:

Students seeking the Juris Doctor Degree must have completed 60 or more acceptable college semester units, or must as an alternative have adequate scores on three, or in some situations five, selected and specific College Level Equivalency Program (CLEP) tests approved by the California Committee of Bar Examiners.

Instructional Methods:

Students listen to recorded lectures. Additionally, written material is studied for each course. The written material is comprised of online school guidebooks, commercially prepared course outlines and, for most courses, casebooks.

Students are exposed to most of what they would have been exposed to by attending classes at a traditional law school, i.e. lectures given by law school professors, cases that they read and brief, and examinations given in traditional format.

The students are encouraged to supplement the prescribed instruction with other study materials traditionally used by law students and usually purchased ‘off campus.’ These supplemental materials include hornbooks, flow charts, flash cards, etc.

Students in this school’s law study program, just like students at traditional law schools, are required to listen to the course lectures, prepare case briefs, read prescribed written materials and take mid-term and final examinations. Additionally, for first-year students, an open book quiz must be completed prior to the taking of midterms in each of the following first-year courses: Contracts, Torts and Criminal Law.

Mid-term examinations are done by the students in open book fashion and must be sent to the school by the students for grading by one of the school’s faculty members. A mid-term grade constitutes one-third of the student’s ultimate grade for a course.

Final exams are closed-book, timed, and proctored using Examity® online proctoring. The final exam grade constitutes the remaining two-thirds of the student’s final grade.

The test questions for the midterms and finals are styled after those given to law students at most traditional law schools and are similar in complexity.

Curriculum:

See the list of courses for the Law Study Program in the Course Description section of the catalog.

Admission Requirements

Students may apply for admission at any time. NWCU operates on a rolling enrollment system so that students start the law study program every month. Students have one year from the date they start each year of studies to complete it.

There is a non-refundable $25 application fee which may be paid online when the application is submitted.

Education Requirements

In accordance with the California Business and Professions Code and the regulations of the State Bar of California, students must meet one of the following pre-legal education requirements for admission to law school:

1. Bachelor’s degree from a U.S. regionally accredited or state-approved college or university;

2. Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree from a U.S. regionally-accredited or state-approved college or university;

3. At least 60 semester credits or 90 quarter credits applicable toward a bachelor’s degree from a U.S. regionally-accredited or state-approved college or university;

4. Evaluation of a foreign degree by an evaluation service approved by the State Bar of California which shows the degree is equivalent to options 1-3 above; or

5. Passing score on the College Composition CLEP exam, plus passing scores on: 

     (a) two additional CLEP exams each of which is recommended for at least 6 credits; or

     (b) four additional CLEP exams each of which is recommended for at least 3 units; or

     (c) three additional CLEP exams, one of which is of which is recommended for at least 6 units and two of which are recommended for at least 3 units.

Applied Associate Degrees

Unlike the Associate of Arts degree and the Associate of Science degree, the Associate in Applied Arts degree and the Associate in Applied Science degree are considered vocational degrees and do not satisfy the California Bar’s eligibility requirements.

Master’s or Doctoral Degrees

Individuals with Master’s or Doctoral degrees who do not also have a Bachelor’s, Associate of Arts, or Associate of Science degree, or 60 or more transferable semester college credits (90 or more quarter college credits) do not meet the California Bar’s eligibility requirements.

CLEP Exams

The College-Level Examination Program® (CLEP) is administered by The College Board, www.collegeboard.com. A passing score on CLEP exams is 50 or higher. One of the exams must be the English Composition exam (but not the modular exam). The additional two to four exams may be for any of the following subjects: Composition and Literature (Humanities examination only), Foreign Language, History and Social Science, Science and Mathematics, and Business.

Official Records of Education Requirements

Official transcripts, foreign degree evaluations, CLEP score reports, and TOEFL or IELTS reports need not be submitted with an application. Admission decisions can usually be made on the basis of the applicant’s declaration regarding these. Applicable official records will be required, however, within 45 days of enrollment.

Residency and Housing

Northwestern California University does not have or require on-campus residence or physical classroom instruction. Students from anywhere in the world can apply and participate in the law study program on the internet.

Northwestern California University is an online distance learning school. Its program is offered entirely on the internet. Accordingly, it does not provide dormitory facilities or housing for students.

LSAT

No Law School Admission Test (LSAT) scores are required for entry to the school.

Foreign Studies

Students who have completed coursework or graduated from institutions outside of the United States are required to have their transcripts evaluated by a foreign credential evaluation service approved by the California Committee of Bar Examiners. A list of approved evaluation services is available at: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/documents/admissions/Education/Credential_Eval_Serv.pdf.

English Language Requirement

All coursework at Northwestern California University is provided and completed in the English language. The school does not provide ESL (English as a Second Language) instruction. It is, therefore, essential that all enrolling students have a high level of comprehension and ability in oral and written expression in the English language.

International applicants who are non-native speakers of English must demonstrate English proficiency by one of the following:

1. Completion of at least two years of study at a college or university where the language of instruction was English, 

2. Submitting a passing score from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), or

3. Submitting a pasing score on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

A passing score on the TOEFL is at least 550 points (paper-based test), 213 points (computer-based test) or 79 (internet-based test). A passing score on the IELTS is 6 or higher for the overall band. There is no preference for one test over the other.

Transfer Students

Northwestern California University welcomes applications from transfer students. Applicants who have previously attended law school and who are accepted for admission will be required to provide official transcripts from all prior law schools.

Transfer credit is awarded at the discretion of the dean, however, NWCU typically awards transfer credit for courses completed at U.S. law schools which are approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) or are accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) of the State Bar of California, provided that the credits to be transferred are appropriate to the law degree program at NWCU.

In accordance with California law and the rules of the State Bar of California, NWCU may grant transfer credit for units earned in unaccredited programs registered with the State Bar of California to students who have passed the California First-Year Law Students’ Examination (FYLSX) during the first three administrations after becoming eligible to take the examination, for all courses taken prior to passing. Those who do not pass the examination within the first three administrations of the examination upon first becoming eligible to take it, but who subsequently pass the examination, can receive credit for one year of law study only. Transferability of credits is determined on an individual basis.

As part of the application process, NWCU may require an evaluation of prior law studies by the State Bar of California. Additionally, a proposed plan of study may be required to verify eligibility for California bar admission after completion of the law study program.

It is important to note that, in accordance with California State Bar guidelines, the school requires that the course of study for the J.D. degree be completed no later than eighty-four months after a student has commenced law study at the law school or a law school from which the law school has accepted transfer credit.

Award of Credit for Experiential Learning

Northwestern California University does not award credits for prior experiential learning, which is the process of making meaning from direct experience.