Graduation Requirements

New England Law | Boston students must complete the following requirements to graduate:

Day Division : At least six semesters of study and 86 hours of credit.
Evening Division : At least eight semesters of study and 86 hours of credit.
Special Part-time Program : Students who transfer between the Day and Evening divisions, and students who transfer from another law school: equivalent requirements are set by the dean's office on an individual basis.

Students also must fulfill certain residency requirements mandated for law schools by the American Bar Association. (Details are provided in the New England Law Student Handbook of Rules and Regulations.)

In addition, students must complete a substantial percentage of credit and degree requirements at New England Law. Students may receive credit for summer study at another law school to decrease their course load during the academic year, providing they have obtained advance approval.

Students may also arrange to "visit out" at a member law school of the Consortium for Innovative Legal Education. However, tuition is based on the entire course of study required for a degree (three years for Day Division and four years for Evening Division), so students are charged the full tuition for their program, regardless of credits earned in summer programs.

Additional Graduation Requirements

In addition to the above requirements and the 11 required courses, New England Law students must satisfy these requirements before graduation:

Professional Skills Requirement : In order to graduate, a student must have satisfied the Professional Skills Requirement. To do this, a student must take at least two courses from the combined approved list of clinical, simulation, and practice courses. The faculty strongly recommends that at least one of these courses be a clinical course; both courses may be clinical courses to satisfy the requirement. To be approved as a Professional Skills Requirement course, a course must require a student to give substantial attention to developing legal practice skills though active participation in real or simulated law practice experiences. Such experiences might include litigation skills and advocacy, client interviewing and counseling, fact investigation, negotiation, and/or practice-orientated writing skills.
Public Law Distribution Requirement : Choose and complete two courses from an approved list developed by the faculty. For purposes of this requirement, public law is the body of law that addresses the legal position of individuals in relation to the government and the structure and operation of the government itself. As such, public law raises issues of constitutional and social concern.
Seminar Requirement : Take at least one course designated as a seminar. A substantial part of the seminar grade usually is based on a paper.