JD/MBA and Other Joint-Degree Law Programs: Length, Cost, How to Apply and Who Benefits

JD/MBA: the short answer

A JD/MBA lets you earn a law degree and a business degree in about four years instead of the five it takes separately, because each school counts some of the other's courses toward its own requirements. Programs commonly run three years of law curriculum plus one year of business curriculum, arranged differently at each university. One directory of programs counts more than 150 ABA-accredited law schools offering a JD/MBA, which is nearly every law school whose university has a business school or a partner school.

How to apply to a JD/MBA

Most programs want two separate applications. Each school applies its own standards. A few use one joint application: Penn and Northwestern are examples. Test requirements differ by school. Law schools accept the LSAT and many also accept the GRE; business schools generally want the GMAT or GRE. Northwestern's program takes the GMAT or GRE without the LSAT, and Penn accepts the GRE, GMAT or LSAT. Check each program's page, since the rule is set by the university and changes.

• Apply to both schools in the same cycle if you want a four-year path from the start.
• Many programs also let you apply to the second school after starting the first; the credit-sharing and timing then differ, so ask.
• Ask each school whether admission to one is conditional on admission to the other.

JD/MBA or just a JD: a way to decide

Choose the JD/MBA if you already know you want a career where both matter, such as deal work, private equity, startups, real estate development or a general counsel path, and you can absorb another year of tuition and lost earnings. Choose the JD alone if you expect to practice at a firm or in government. It is the shortest, cheapest path. A joint degree does not replace legal experience, and firms often weigh law grades and 2L summer performance heavily. If you are unsure, apply to the JD and revisit the MBA after 1L, when you know more about the work.

Who the added year and cost actually make sense for

A candidate targeting a specific role that genuinely draws on both credentials — private equity, healthcare law and administration, public-sector leadership — gets real value from a joint degree that a candidate collecting credentials for their own sake typically doesn't.

Price the fourth year of tuition and one additional year of lost salary against the specific career path the joint degree opens, not against the abstract appeal of holding two degrees.

What the ABA Standards say about joint-degree credit

ABA Standard 311 says JD credit generally can be given only for coursework taken after the student matriculated in the JD program, with one exception for a joint-degree student. Credit earned toward a graduate degree before matriculation counts only under three conditions. The student is in a joint degree program at a law school that would have allowed the credit had it been earned during the joint program. The credit would have counted toward the JD. And it was earned no more than three years before the student matriculated in the JD program.

Interpretation 311-2 says non-JD coursework can be completed in another department, school or college of the university, or at another institution. It must be coursework the law school would have allowed credit for in its joint program. A JD requires at least 83 credit hours under Standard 311, at least 64 of them in regularly scheduled classroom sessions or direct faculty instruction. Confirm each school's credit rules.

Combined programs and admission rules

Standard 313 says a law school may not offer a degree program other than the JD unless four things are true. The school is fully approved. The Council has granted acquiescence. The school has a policy of priority enrollment for JD students in courses required for the degree or the bar. And the program will not interfere with compliance. Acquiescence is not Council approval of the program itself.

Standard 502 lets a school admit an applicant who has completed three-fourths of the credits leading to a bachelor's degree in a combined bachelor's and JD program. Interpretation 503-3 lets a school admit up to 10 percent of an entering class without the LSAT. The students must be same-institution undergraduates or combined-degree students. They must have scored at or above the 85th percentile on the ACT, SAT, GRE or GMAT, as applicable. They must also have ranked in the top 10 percent or held at least a 3.5 GPA through six semesters.