The School of Law and the LBJ School of Public Affairs offer a Dual Degree program leading to the degrees of Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) and Master of Public Affairs (M.P. Aff.). The program is designed to prepare qualified law and public affairs students for careers at any level of government and in public-policy related areas of the private sector or legal profession.
Alumni currently hold positions in the offices of U.S. Congressmen, federal district judges, regulatory agencies, city attorneys, and district attorneys, and are partners or associates in law firms dealing with such issues as EEO, international law, criminal justice, and environmental law.
The program is structured so that students can earn the JD and M.P.Aff. degrees simultaneously in four years rather than the five years the two degrees would otherwise require. Degrees are awarded when the required course work in both schools is completed. In general, Dual Degree program students progress through the curriculum as follows:
To satisfy the requirements of the program, students must complete a minimum of 33 LBJ School credit hours and 70 credit hours at the School of Law, including all the first-year core courses in each school.
The Law School's first-year curriculum includes six one-semester four-unit substantive law courses: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law I, Contracts, Criminal Law, Property, and Torts. One of these six courses will include a writing component, which adds a unit of credit to the course. The rest of the first-year curriculum includes two semesters of Legal Research and Writing – two units of credit per semester – and an optional elective course of 2-3 units in the spring semester. The first year program in the law school usually totals 29 units of credit.
The upper-class curriculum includes the following requirements: Professional Responsibility, Constitutional Law II, a writing seminar, and a Professional Skills course. The remaining hours at the Law School are elective.
The first-year curriculum in the LBJ School normally consists of required core courses. For more information, see the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs website.
Students must meet the separate admission criteria of both the School of Law and the LBJ School in order to be considered for admission to the Dual Degree program.
A prospective Dual Degree program student should apply as follows:
To the School of Law: Information on admissions may be obtained from the Admissions Coordinator, The University of Texas at School of Law, 727 E. Dean Keeton St., Austin, TX 78705. This information is also available on the Law School web site. The following steps must be taken:
The LBJ School has limited funds for qualified students who merit financial assistance and who can show need by completing the ACT Family Financial Statement. Dual Degree program students in law and public affairs may apply to the LBJ School for such assistance in their first full year in the LBJ School.