Dual Degree - School of Law (J.D.) & School of Business (MAcc)
Admission
Students must separately apply to and be accepted by both schools. Students will indicate to each school, at the time of application, that they are applying to the dual degree program. Students will pay tuition for law school courses at the normal rate for that school and will pay tuition for business school courses at the normal rate for that school.
Note: The reduced dual degree 8 course/24 credit hour core MAcc program is still available to students who have finished or will soon finish most or all of the J.D. curriculum already. Additionally, those who have already graduated with their J.D. are eligible to retroactively take advantage of the reduced credit hour dual degree MAcc program.
Degree Requirements
On its own, the J.D. program at Washburn University School of Law requires 90 credit hours; the MAcc program requires 30 master’s level credit hours beyond the course prerequisites. The upper-level MAcc program consists of 8 courses/24 credit hours for dual degree students.1 Thus, pursued separately, the J.D. and MAcc together would require 120 credit hours. Under the dual degree program, certain courses are accepted for credit by both schools: six credit hours of business-related law school courses may count toward the MAcc and six credit hours of business school courses in the MAcc may count toward the J.D. Students can therefore obtain both degrees with a total of 108 credit hours.
Law school courses that transfer to the business school are those that are business-related (as determined by the business school); business school courses that transfer to the law school are core courses in which the student earns at least a “B.” (Grades will not transfer between schools; for the transferee school, the courses will be treated as credit/no-credit.) No credits for business school courses will transfer to the law school until the student has obtained 12 credits of MAcc (600 series) business school courses.
Students may choose to begin either their legal studies or their accounting studies first. Whenever they start the law school program, students must take the full first-year curriculum, all of which consists of required courses, without interruption. Students will not be permitted to take business school courses during the first year of law school.
After completing the first year of the law school curriculum, if students simultaneously take courses in both programs, the total number of credits enrolled in at one time must stay within the parameters required by the American Bar Association’s standards governing accredited law schools. Students are also required to participate in the various orientation and assessment activities of both programs. Completion of the MAcc program is not required to coincide with completion of the J.D. requirements. All MAcc coursework must be completed within six calendar years from the point the first MAcc course is taken.
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All dual degree students are required to complete 8 courses/24 credit hours from the upper-level MAcc program curriculum. Students without a BBA degree or without a BBA degree (with an accounting focus): completion of up to 18 credit hours/6 pre-MAcc undergraduate correlate courses and completion of up to 21 credit hours/7 pre-MAcc undergraduate accounting courses, in addition to the 8-course/24-credit hour upper-level MAcc program curriculum. Determination of pre-MAcc undergraduate correlate course requirements and pre-MAcc undergraduate accounting course requirements will be assessed on an individual basis through transcript analysis of previous courses completed, and in some cases, professional work experience, by the Graduate Programs Director. MA 116 College Algebra or equivalent is a program prerequisite required prior to entry for all students.