The "Law and Government Program" (LGP), is a combined degree program offered by the School of Law and the Department of Government which leads to the J.D. in law and the Ph.D. in Government. Students must apply separately and secure admission to each unit. By counting some law courses towards the Ph.D. requirements and some Government courses towards the J.D. requirements, students can save some time in achieving the two degrees. Because the length of time to receive the Ph.D. is largely determined by the time it takes to complete a dissertation rather than the amount of coursework required, and because coursework requirements in the Government Department can vary depending upon the field, it is impossible to predict the actual time saved. That said, pursuing a combined degree certainly speeds up the process compared to seeking the degrees separately.
The Department of Government is a large, "full service" department offering study in most areas of political science. With the Government Department's commitment to public law as a field of study, and the Law School's commitment to interdisciplinary study, the LGP offers unmatched coverage of topics at the intersection of the two disciplines. Most students in the combined program will choose public law as one of their subfields for study and examination, but this is not required. The flexibility of the combined program allows students to draw upon the wide offerings and resources at the University of Texas at Austin in ways that complement their interests The faculty at Texas are particularly noted for work regarding the intersection of law and politics as well as Constitutional Law and Comparative Constitutionalism. Another area of particular strength in the two disciplines as well as throughout the University is Latin America.
Jointly appointed faculty and close cooperation between the two units provides a supervised and coherent program of study. The Government Department offers competitive financial aid for the PhD program, and the Law School offers a limited number of fellowships each year to students at the dissertation stage, as well as in-state tuition waivers qualifying non-residents for in-state tuition during the first year of law school. After the first year, out-of-state students qualify for in-state law school tuition if they also hold a TA appointment in Government. LGP students are also eligible for substantial merit-based aid from the Law School.
For application materials and more information, visit the following homepages:
School of Law: http://www.utexas.edu/law/
Dept. of Government: http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/government/
Questions? Contact Professor H. W. Perry, Jr. at hwperry@mail.utexas.edu