The Elon University School of Law's new approach to legal education earned praise in U.S. News & World Report’s "Best Graduate Schools 2017" guidebook.
A groundbreaking new curriculum at Elon University School of Law has earned national attention from U.S. News & World Report in its “Best Graduate Schools 2017” guidebook.
Published in March, the guidebook includes an article featuring five law schools that are reimagining their approaches to legal education with a focus on practical experience at lower overall costs to their students.
Elon Law begins the list in “Law Schools Innovate With Hands-On Learning” by writer Margaret Loftus. From the article:
“The new program focuses heavily on individualized mentorship by working attorneys and faculty members and extensive experiential coursework, and it has been condensed into two and a half years. Meanwhile, the school reduced tuition by 12 percent to a flat $100,000 for the whole package.”
Highlights of Elon Law’s program, which debuted in 2015:
- The first and only law school to ensure that all students benefit from full-time, course-connected residencies in the practice of law
- Experiential learning integrated throughout the curriculum, representing more than 20 percent of program
- An introductory course for all students to develop skills essential for success in law school and the legal profession, including legal analysis, writing and professionalism
- A four-person student success team for every student: a faculty advisor, a working attorney mentor (preceptor), an executive coach and a career consultant
- A seven-trimester schedule in which students complete their studies in December, allowing them to take the February bar exam and begin law practice in the spring
- A reduced tuition 20 percent lower than the private law school average and guaranteed not to increase for the entering Class of 2016, plus substantial scholarship and fellowship opportunities
“It is fabulous to be recognized for Elon Law’s innovative and entrepreneurial approach to legal education, integrating thinking and doing in a logically sequenced course of instruction,” said Luke Bierman, dean of the Elon University School of Law. “Elon Law’s pioneering students and creative faculty are to be commended for helping to redesign and reinvent what it means to learn how to be a lawyer.”