Effective July 1st, 2020

Section 3.20 Student Location Policy

Section 6.11 Transfer Credit Policy

A. Transfer Credit for Prior JD Law Studies

1. Law Studies at an Accredited Law School, in Good Academic Standing as Defined by Prior School (onsite JD only) When admitting a JD student who has previously studied law in another law school’s JD program, when the law school is accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California or approved by the American Bar Association, the School may accept up to 30 units of credit from the other law school as transfer credit provided credit was earned in a JD program no more than 2 years prior to applying to COL. Credit may be granted under this section only for whole courses (for example, both Contracts I and Contracts II when the whole Contracts course takes two terms to complete) in which the applicant received a grade at the good standing level or higher as defined by the law school where the courses were taken. Transfer credit for courses completed at a prior law school, if granted by the School, will be entered on the student’s transcript with a grade of TC and will be disregarded in computing the cGPA but will count towards the student’s rate of progress as both credit earned and attempted. Credit hours earned from an institution that is not accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California or approved by the American Bar Association are not eligible for transfer of credit for the onsite JD program.
 

2. Law Studies at an Accredited Law School, in Good Standing (Hybrid JD only) In the Hybrid JD program, transfer credit is only granted in extraordinary circumstances, as determined in the sole discretion of the Dean and/or Associate Dean.

3. Law Studies at an Unaccredited Law School or Absent Good Standing Where the student has completed law studies in a JD program at an unaccredited law school, or at another accredited law school (as defined in Paragraph 1 above) in the absence of good standing, transfer credit may be granted for JD courses if the student takes and passes the State Bar of California’s First-Year Law Students’ Examination with a score of “580” or higher. In this case, the student will be awarded transfer credit for 15 units. Unit credit will be entered on the student’s transcript with a grade of TC only for 6 units in Torts, 6 units in Contracts and 3 units in Criminal Law, and will be disregarded in computing the student’s cGPA but will count towards the student’s rate of progress as both credit earned and attempted. When a student is applying in the absence of good standing, in addition to the foregoing, State Bar rules require that the student must be able to document a score on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT).

B. Transfer Credit for JD Law Studies Elsewhere While Enrolled As Continuing Student Students in good academic standing who have successfully completed the second year curriculum may petition the Dean for permission to enroll in up to 6 summer elective units offered in the JD program of another law school when: (1) good cause exists for taking the course(s) at another school and (2) the other law school is accredited as defined in Section A.1 above. The student may petition for credit for “study abroad” programs administered by an accredited law school. Permission to receive transfer credit will be granted for only one summer session at another law school and may be subject to other conditions imposed by the Dean including, but not limited to, the minimum grade that will be required for such transfer credits to be accepted. In all cases, the Dean’s written permission must be obtained before the student begins studies elsewhere. Credit hours earned from an institution that is not accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California or approved by the American Bar Association are not eligible for transfer of credit as a continuing student.

C. MLS Transfer Credit When admitting a student who has previously studied at another Master of Legal Studies or equivalent degree program at a regionally-accredited institution, the School may accept as transfer credit, depending on the circumstances, up to 6 units of credit. The School may accept up to 12 units for study in the School’s own JD degree program. In all cases credit will only be given for a grade at the good standing level or higher at the awarding school or program, for courses completed within 36 calendar months prior to the date the applicant is to begin MLS studies. Transfer credit from another school or program, if granted, is entered on the student’s transcript with a grade of “TC” and is disregarded in computing the cGPA but will count towards the student’s rate of progress as both credit earned and attempted. Credit hours earned from an institution that is not regionally accredited are not eligible for transfer of credit

1. Dual Degree Programs: Student who are enrolled in a Dual Degree Program with a cooperating affiliate institution will be allowed to transfer coursework from the outside institution to meet the degree requirements of the Master of Legal Studies. The amount of transfer credit accepted is dictated by the agreement between the cooperating affiliate institution and COL. The grid of allowable transfer credit is listed below.

D. Articulation Agreements. The school currently has no articulation agreements with any other institution that specifies coursework equivalent to COL coursework for transfer credit.

E.  Experiential Learning.  The school does not award credit for experiential learning.