How Long Is Law School by Program Type?

Law school typically requires a tremendous commitment of time, energy and resources. But candidates for advanced degrees are often mid-career or in the early stages of raising a family—stepping away from a job or family to pursue a long-duration program isn’t always an option for aspiring law students.

Fortunately, the answer to the question of how long law school is comes down to the program type that candidates choose. The Law School Admission Council identifies four basic types of law programs, ranging from the traditional Juris Doctor (JD) to legal certificates focusing on specific areas of law.¹ Your law school experience will depend on your program and your career goals. You might decide to pursue a traditional three-year JD if you want to practice law, or you can spend a couple of months completing an online legal certificate if you’d like to become well-versed in one specific area of law to boost your credibility in a current job.

This blog post explores the typical degree options offered by law schools, with particular consideration given to program duration and the factors that might influence the amount of time you need to complete a given degree.

Typical Duration of a Juris Doctor (JD) Program

How long does law school take? Traditionally, the answer is three years—the time it takes to complete a JD program.

If your goal is to practice law, this is the program you want to pursue. A JD is not a license to practice law—for that, you’ll need to pass the bar exam—but it does provide the necessary preparation for the bar exam, from foundational legal principles to the transformative experience of learning to think and write like a lawyer.²

A standard full-time JD program lasts three years. First year (1L) is when you acquire the basic tools and principles of legal work. The 2L and 3L curricula can very from school to school, offering electives, opportunities to specialize and potentially unique opportunities to gain practical experience.³

There are also online and part-time JD options available at some law schools.

Master of Jurisprudence (MJ)

The Master of Jurisprudence (MJ) is often described as a “law degree for non-lawyers.” These degrees are specialized in a particular type of law, such as energy or employment, preparing students with in-depth knowledge of advanced issues.

An MJ focuses on specialized legal knowledge, concepts and frameworks. But it does not include the elements of a traditional JD that prepare candidates for the bar exam or professional practice. This means the program can be completed more quickly and can be more readily optimized for working professionals or those with family commitments.

For example, Tulane University Law School offers three online MJ programs, each of which can be completed in two years:

• Online MJ in Energy Law: A degree that focuses on matters such as the regulatory frameworks that govern the US energy industry, like oil, gas, electric or nuclear power
• Online MJ in Environmental Law: A thorough grounding in the principles and practices of environmental regulation, including air and water protection, environmental tort law, pollution and hazardous waste law and other essential legal issues
• Online MJ in Employment Law: An advanced training in HR law and policies that focuses on preventing discrimination and illegal HR practices and meeting state and federal employment law compliance

Accelerated Law School Programs

Some institutions offer accelerated JD programs. This can reduce a standard law school length from three years to two, or a “3+3” program, condensing a bachelor’s degree and JD into back-to-back three-year programs.

It’s also possible to pursue two advanced degrees at the same time, in a dual-degree program, such as a JD/MBA or JD/MPA combined course.

A two-year JD program, for example, will typically reduce the number of law school years by scheduling courses for the summer, which might be an attractive option for those seeking to minimize time out of work.

In a JD/MBA or JD/MPA program, it’s less about cutting business school or law school duration and more about finding overlapping elements of the curriculum that allow for about a year to be cut out of the combined schedule.

Joint and Dual-Degree Programs

Joint and dual-degree programs offer the chance to combine a law degree with a master’s in business, public policy, public health and other relevant fields. For some, these degrees combine know-how with an understanding of the rules (contained within the JD), making for a potent combination of expertise that can foster entrepreneurial and unusual career paths.

Program structures vary, but most seek to condense schedules, graduating students with both degrees in less time than it would take them to earn each degree separately. For example, a two-year master’s in public health and a three-year law degree can be combined for a four-year joint program.

LLM (Master of Laws) Programs

Master of Laws students typically only need one year to graduate.

An LLM degree can be a useful option for international students, trained in a different legal system, seeking to gain knowledge of a particular area of U.S. law. It’s also a good option for lawyers in the U.S. who want to specialize in a particular field and need advanced, focused knowledge. Common specializations include international law, intellectual property and human rights law.

Factors That Influence Program Length

There is more than one answer to the question of how long it takes to get a law degree. Several factors contribute to law school duration, such as credit requirements and academic pacing. A degree that crams work into the summer break will be quicker than one that doesn’t, but it will also be asking you to do more in less time than a conventionally paced program.

Programs that offer internships and externships or include bar prep elements will also generally take more time to complete than programs that are more purely focused on legal principles.

Advance Your Career With an Online MJ from Tulane Law

From three-year JD programs to five-year joint JD/MBA degrees or single-year LLM programs, there are a variety of timelines you can choose from for your law school experience. Consider your needs and ambitions carefully. Do you want to practice law? Is subject-matter expertise more significant to your career? Match your goals to the appropriate law school path.

For the working professional who wants a rigorous education in legal principles from a respected law school, the online MJ programs from Tulane Law offer in-depth training in the fundamentals of Energy Law, Environmental Law or Employment Law. Candidates benefit from the guidance of a world-class faculty and the backing of one of the oldest law schools in the U.S., as well as a curriculum designed to offer working professionals the flexibility they need to combine their existing careers with advanced study.

Explore our online resources, including admissions and tuition information. When you’re ready to discuss what the Tulane Advantage can do for your career, schedule a call with one of our admissions outreach advisors.