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Academic Requirements

Graduation Requirements for Classes Entering Fall 2022 and After

To be eligible for the J.D. degree, a student must satisfy all the following:

1. Admission to the College of Law as a candidate for the degree and satisfaction of any conditions imposed at the time of admission or before graduation during the course of law study; 
2. Successful completion of at least 88 credits of which 69 must be graded with a cumulative grade point average of 2.33 or better; 
3. No more than 4 credits of “C” or “D” work after the first year can be applied toward the 88 credits; 
4. completion of all first-year courses; 
5. completion of the Upper-Level Writing Requirement; 
6. completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement; 
7. no more than 12 externship credits, 12 clinical work credits, 3 independent study credits, 4 professional development credits, and 6 combined professional development plus non-LAW credits for courses taken at ASU can be counted towards the 88 credits required for graduation; 
8. no more than 12 total credits of Distance Education courses as defined by the ABA standards can be counted towards the 88 credits required for graduation. A student shall not enroll in Distance Education courses qualifying for J.D. credit until that student has successfully completed 29 credits; 
9. all 88 credits required for graduation must be earned at the College of Law unless the dean’s designee grants prior approval; 
10. completion of the degree requirements no earlier than 24 months and no later than 84 months after commencing study at the College of Law school or a law school from which the College of Law has accepted transfer credit; 
11. a minimum of 64 credits must be earned in courses that involve attendance at regularly scheduled class sessions. The following do not count toward these required 64 credits: a. All Externships b. Independent Studies c. Non-LAW courses taken at the College of Law d. Journal credits e. Moot Court credits f. Teaching Assistant credits g. Credit from courses without regularly scheduled meetings;
12. A maximum of 29 transfer credits can be counted toward the 88 credits necessary for graduation.