Degree Requirements

Juris Doctor: Full-Time Program

Upon recommendation of the faculty, the degree of Juris Doctor (JD) is conferred on students who successfully complete these requirements in the full-time JD program:

• Public Interest Requirement
• Required First-Year Courses
• Professional Responsibility
• Upper-Level Elective Requirement
• Upper-Level Rigorous Writing Requirement
• Experiential Education Requirement
• Co-op Requirement: Co-ops Corresponding to Three Terms

All JD students must complete 83 total credits. For more information about requirements for the School of Law’s full-time and part-time programs, visit the Northeastern University Academic Catalog.

Juris Doctor: Part-Time Program (FlexJD)

Upon recommendation of the faculty, the degree of Juris Doctor (JD) is conferred on students who successfully complete these requirements in the part-time JD program:

• Public Interest Requirement
• Required First-Year Courses
• Professional Responsibility
• Upper-Level Elective Requirement
• Upper-Level Rigorous Writing Requirement
• Experiential Education Requirement
• Co-op Requirement: Co-ops Corresponding to Two Terms; a Field Placement and Associated Seminar; and 350 Hours of Relevant Work Experience

All JD students must complete 83 total credits. For more information about requirements for the School of Law’s full-time and part-time programs, visit the Northeastern University Academic Catalog.

Credit Transfers

There are a number of ways to receive transfer credit. Please note that transfer credit will be posted to a student’s Northeastern University School of Law transcript after an official transcript that indicates the courses completed and the grades received has been delivered to the Office of Academic and Student Affairs. It is the student’s responsibility to have transcripts forwarded from educational institutions to the Office of Academic and Student Affairs, c/o Assistant Dean Brian Carlisle. 

Grading System

The School of Law’s grading system cultivates an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect. Rather than alphabetic or numeric grades, our students receive narrative evaluations from professors and co-op employers. In addition to these narrative evaluations, all students may receive Honors or High Honors for strong academic performance. There is no class rank or GPA. Students work together to achieve individual and group results—a cooperative spirit that becomes an asset in their legal careers. Northeastern's system helps you focus on what matters most: honing your skills through detailed feedback and learning to collaborate so that you are more fully prepared for the practice of law. It should be clearly understood that the School of Law’s narrative grading system does not eliminate academic risk. Under the school’s Academic Rules, the faculty reserves the right to dismiss any student whose written work, classroom performance or employer evaluations indicate unsatisfactory progress toward professional competence.