The College of Law and the J. Mack Robinson College of Business offer a dual degree program leading to the juris doctor (J.D.) and master of business administration (M.B.A.) degrees.
The J.D./M.B.A. is a course of study which allows selected previously-approved course work earned in one degree program to satisfy some of the elective course requirements of the other degree program. This enables a student to complete the requirements for both degrees in a shorter time than required to complete both degrees separately. Students who have already earned a J.D. degree or an M.B.A. degree at Georgia State University or at another institution are not eligible for the dual program.
The following regulations apply to students accepted to both the J.D. and M.B.A. programs and are enrolled in the dual degree program as opposed to being enrolled in each degree program separately.
Application
Applicants to the J.D./M.B.A. dual degree program must meet the entrance requirements and follow the application procedures of both the College of Law and Robinson College of Business. Applicants must be accepted by both colleges. Admission into one program does not presume admission to the other. To be in the J.D./M.B.A dual degree program, students must be admitted to both programs before completing either program.
Applicants must take the LSAT to apply to the College of Law. Robinson College of Business will accept the LSAT in lieu of the GRE or GMAT for students already accepted into the J.D. program.
Students who are accepted to both the J.D. and M.B.A. programs and wish to be enrolled in the dual degree program are responsible for providing written notification of their intentions to each college.
Requirements
Students must satisfy the curriculum requirements for both the J.D. and M.B.A. degrees.
J.D. Degree Requirements
As stated in the College of Law Course Bulletin, a law student must earn 90 semester hours of credit to qualify for the J.D. degree. For students enrolled in the dual degree program, the College of Law will permit up to 12 semester hours of 8000-level M.B.A. courses with grades of B or better to be credited toward elective hours required for the J.D.
M.B.A. Degree Requirements
The requirements for the M.B.A. are described in section 7090 of the Robinson College of Business catalog.
For students enrolled in the dual degree program, the Robinson College of Business will accept 12 semester hours from the J.D. program with grades of B or better to be credited toward the 12 semester hours of electives for the general business concentration in the M.B.A. program.
Students who earn fewer than 12 semester hours of grades of B or higher in the J.D. program will receive a reduced number of hours of credit toward the general business concentration in the M.B.A. program. Such students must compensate for this shortage of courses eligible for elective credit by taking additional courses in either college and earning minimum grades of B.
Choices of these courses must be approved in advance by the Robinson College of Business Office of Graduate Student Services.
In addition, completion of the first-year curriculum of the J.D. program in good academic standing will satisfy the M.B.A. requirement MBA 8030 Legal Environment: Ethics and Corporate Governance. For students who drop out of the J.D. program before completing the first-year curriculum or do not complete it in good standing, determination of credit for MBA 8030 will be decided by normal transfer-of-credit procedures, which are explained in section 7080.40 of the Robinson College of Business catalog.
Enrollment Sequencing and Time Limits
The College of Law does not permit enrollment in the dual degree program after a student has completed more than 21 semester hours of 8000-level M.B.A. coursework.
After students have been admitted to both the J.D. and M.B.A. programs and have declared intent to be enrolled in the dual degree program, they must, at the first opportunity, complete 30 semester hours of required courses in the J.D. program. After completion of these 30 hours, enrollment in the courses of either college or enrollment in both colleges concurrently is permitted.
Dual degree students may be required to take prerequisite, foundational or introductory courses prior to beginning M.B.A. coursework.
Grading and Scholastic Discipline
Students enrolled the dual degree program must meet the academic regulations of each college, including those related to the minimum GPA and scholastic discipline. The computation of the GPA in each college is based only on courses taken in that college.
Graduation
Prior to graduation, students completing the dual degree program are responsible for confirming with both colleges that the degree requirements for each program have been satisfied. Students must complete the graduate application for each degree.
No credit hours of J.D. course work will be applied toward the M.B.A. degree requirements until the completion of J.D. degree requirements. No M.B.A. credit toward the J.D. degree is awarded until the M.B.A. degree program has been completed. A simultaneous awarding of degrees will satisfy this requirement.
The requirements for the M.B.A. degree must be completed within eight years of the initial semester of enrollment in the M.B.A. program. The J.D. degree must be completed within six years of the initial semester of enrollment in the J.D. program.
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