Followers of Beyond Non-JD and my LEALS students are familiar with the ABA’s Overview of Other than J.D. Programs.

ABA accreditation does not extend to any program supporting any other degree granted by the law school. Rather the content and requirements of those degrees, such as an LL.M., are created by the law school itself and do not reflect any judgment by the ABA accrediting bodies regarding the quality of the program. Moreover, admission requirements for such programs, particularly with regard to foreign students, vary from school to school, and are not evaluated through the ABA accreditation process. The ABA reviews these degree programs only to determine whether their offering would have an adverse impact on the law school’s ability to maintain its accreditation for the JD program. If no adverse impact is indicated, the ABA “acquiesces” in the law school’s decision to offer the non-JD program and degree.

Each law school that offers Non-J.D. Programs has to determine its own Non-J.D. strategy. Given the differences between programs offered, length of time they’ve existed, USNWR rank, location, law school financial situation, and other factors, I don’t think any two programs have exactly the same strategy, nor should they. The quoted text above is why I have to explain when I teach and present abroad why it’s so difficult for many people to secure full-tuition or almost full-tuition Non-J.D. scholarships.

On Friday, I pointed out the different paths schools take to Non-J.D. programming. According to the ABA’s 2021 J.D./Non-J.D. Enrollment Data, there are now 52 schools with > 100 Non-J.D. students, compared with 51 schools with 0 Non-J.D. students. Later this year, I’m planning to look at the LSAT/UGPA/Class Size updates to see how the 52 schools with large Non-J.D. students and the 51 schools without Non-J.D. students fared. Note: It’s possible some of the 51 schools have added Non-J.D. programs this year and we’ll get to double check that in December.

When I think about possible strategies law schools can employ, I frame it in terms of “no adverse impact on the . . . J.D. program.” I should also point out that I hope more attention will be paid to this relationship between J.D. and Non-J.D. programs and I hope that more consumer information will become available to prospective students. There are obviously many ways to build your strategies. Below are three, but I welcome U.S. law schools comfortable sharing to reach out!

1. The J.D. Benefit Model: Under this model, Non-J.D. Program revenue primarily benefits the J.D. program and law school more generally. Revenue from Non-J.D. tuition can go towards strategic priorities, broadly defined, including scholarships to recruit 1L students.
2. The Revenue Neutral Model: Under this model, the goal is for your Non-J.D. program to support itself. I’d guess that these would be more likely in a one degree or one degree program type setup with a smaller enrollment that has existed for a while.
3. The Overall Revenue Neutral Model: Under this model, you may have some programs that are generating revenue and some neutral and some possibly even costing money. But overall, your Non-J.D. program is revenue neutral. My guess, again, is that this differentiated Non-J.D. programming model is the way forward for many schools, especially with LL.M./M.S.L. and residential/online type breakdowns.

It’s of course more nuanced than this! There’s possible overlap between models. Faculty teaching courses open to J.D. and LL.M. students make the exact breakdowns more difficult. Services offered to all law students at a school are harder to break out by J.D. versus Non-J.D. demand, at least on the overall level.

While I don’t have any specific information about any schools, I think this is important for students to think about when they embark on Non-J.D. programs. Understanding how Non-J.D. shops are set up is especially crucial for students who require the lowest cost-of-attendance in order to attend and for those looking to make the biggest leap from in job prospects through a Non-J.D. degree.

I believe that it’s absolutely possible for a student to find a great Non-J.D. program for their goals, that has a good ROI for their specific career, and that they’re happy they enrolled in. It takes a lot of research, and is one of the reasons I started Beyond Non-J.D.!