JD/MS in Science Technology & Environmental Policy: Curriculum

Law School Curriculum

Law School JD degree requirements for students entering Fall 2009 include satisfactory completion of 88 semester credits, and six semesters of full-time enrollment (defined as 12 semester credits or more). First-year students are required to take a core curriculum totaling 30 credits and comprised of the following courses: Beyond that, all courses are elective, except that a student must take a course in Professional Responsibility (3 credits) and Constitutional Law II (3 credits) before graduating. In addition, each student must satisfy a second-year writing requirement (typically by participating in a moot court or serving as a staff member on one of the Law School's law reviews), as well as a third-year writing requirement (typically satisfied by taking a course meeting this requirement, completing an independent research paper meeting this requirement, which may be an MS thesis, Plan B paper, PhD dissertation, or capstone project, or serving as an editor on one of the Law School's law reviews).

To see requirements for students entering in years other than 2009, visit www.law.umn.edu/current/degreerequirements.html.

In addition, all students in the Joint Degree Program in Law, Health & the Life Sciences take a professional seminar. This 1-credit Proseminar is taught cooperatively by faculty involved in the Joint Degree Program, offered on a pass-fail basis, and required each Fall semester that a student is enrolled in the Joint Degree Program.

Science Technology & Environmental Policy Curriculum

The MS in Science, Technology & Environment Policy, offered by the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs (HHHI), requires a total of 40 semester credits. Students must take 22.5 semester credits in the following core courses: In addition, students who have not taken prior course work in statistics must take Empirical Analysis I in place of one elective course. MS Plan A students must also write a thesis for which 10 credits are awarded; MS Plan B students may take a capstone seminar or workshop awarding 3 credits.

Combining Curricula

Students in the Joint Degree Program combine their Law and science/health curricula by cross-counting up to 12 Law credits in their science or health program and up to 12 non-law credits in their Law School program. For more details, click on "Cross-Counting Courses" above.

JD/MS or JD/PhD students are eligible for a minor in bioethics, bioinformatics, or human genetics.

U of MN Resources

• About the University of Minnesota
• About the Twin Cities
• Graduate School Diversity Office

JDP Partner Colleges & Programs

• Center for Bioethics
• College of Biological Sciences
  • Ecology, Evolution, & Behavior
  • Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology and Genetics
• College of Food, Agriculture & Natural Resources Science
  • Conservation Biology
  • Natural Resources Science & Management
• Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
  • Center for Science, Technology & Public Policy (CSTPP)
• Law School
• Medical School
  • Medical Education
  • Pharmacology
• School of Public Health