LL.M. General Degree Requirements & Policies
General LL.M. degree requirements can be found in the following sections. You will not find here the LL.M. Specialization Requirements specific to each LL.M. specialization or the requirements for Advanced Professional Certificates.
On this page you will find the following general degree requirements, policies and academic progress information:
- General Requirements
- Credit Requirements
- Change of Program
- Attendance and Residence Requirements
- Time Allowed for Completing Degree Requirements
- Requirement of Continuous Registration / Leave of Absence
- Change of Status
- Academic Progress
- Required Grade Point Average (GPA)
- Re-registration and Substitution
- Student Degree Progress
- Credit/Fail
- Auditing
- Transfer Credit
- Certification for Bar Examination
General Requirements
All students are required to attend classes regularly, satisfactorily complete all requirements for their courses, and take examinations at the scheduled times. Violation of these rules may result in a failing grade in the course in question.
Examinations are required in all courses, except in seminars or other courses where the preparation of a paper based on independent research may be counted for part or all of the requirements.
Please note that you are responsible for applying for graduation (via Torchtone) and making sure that you fulfill all requirements prior to graduation. Neither the Records Office nor the Office of Graduate Affairs is able to monitor the transcripts or curricular choices of every student. Prior to registration for your final term, it is your responsibility to review these requirements to ensure that you will have satisfied all of them. It is of course highly advisable to have the requirements in mind as you make your course selections each term. If you have questions about the requirements, you should consult the Office of Graduate Affairs.
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Credit Requirements
LL.M. Full-time
LL.M. students must complete at least 24 credits, as well as meet their specific program requirements, to receive the LL.M. degree. Candidates who devote full-time to their studies can complete the 24 credit hours required for the LL.M. degree in one academic year.
The Law School requires all full-time students to register for a minimum of 12 credits per semester to maintain full-time student status. All students need permission to register for fewer than (or to drop below) 12 credits in a semester, or to register for more than 15 credits in a semester. Please note that approval to register for more than 15 credits will result in additional tuition charges (that may not be refundable). It is highly advisable to take no more than 12-13 credits during the Fall semester, as you become acclimated to the law school environment. If a student is approved for less than 12 credits in a semester, a full-time equivalency will be placed on the student's record, and the student will be responsible for full-time tuition. Please consult with the Office of Financial Services for any billing questions.
It is especially important for international students to note that in accordance with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), all international students must be registered for the full-time program by September 3 for fall 2008 and January 18 for spring 2009.
Please be aware that credits in excess of 30 for the academic year will result in additional charges.
You must obtain approval from the Office of Graduate Affairs for any exception (via the Credit Load Permission form). Fall 2008 requests will be accepted only from June 13 through September 3, and spring 2009 requests will be accepted only from December 1 through January 18.
LL.M. Part-time
LL.M. students must complete at least 24 credits, as well as meet their specific program requirements, to receive the LL.M. degree. An LL.M. candidate is allowed no more than five years to complete all degree requirements. Part-time students may register for a maximum of 6 credits per semester. Students who are working full-time, however, are strongly advised to limit their course load to 4 or 5 credits per semester. Regardless of credit load (i.e., whether one is enrolled for 2 credits or 6 credits in a given semester), all part-time students are required to take their examinations as scheduled; re-scheduling is not permitted . Therefore, part-time students should clear their exam schedules with their employers before finalizing course schedules. They should also review the Schedule of Classes carefully, as certain required courses for some programs are not offered in the evening.
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Change of Program
If you wish to change your program, you must submit a petition via e-mail to the Office of Graduate Affairs to initiate this process. You may only transfer from the program to which you have been admitted into another program with the approval of the Director of the program into which you want to transfer. Following the end of the add/drop period for the spring semester, requests for a change of program by full-time students will only be considered in exceptional circumstances and with the consent of the Director and the Vice Dean. Requests for change of program by part-time students who have already completed 12 credits will also only be considered in exceptional circumstances and with the consent of the program Director and Vice Dean.
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Attendance and Residence Requirements
Rules of the American Bar Association, the New York State Court of Appeals, other state high courts, and the Law School itself all require regular classroom attendance. Students are advised that excessive absenteeism can result without warning in: 1) grade lowering, 2) denial of permission to complete course work and/or sit for the exam, or 3) receipt of a grade of WD (withdrawn) or FAB (failed for absence). Missing more than one-fifth of classes is presumptively excessive. Any student who finds himself or herself at risk of missing more than one-fifth of classes for any course should immediately speak with the instructor and/or Assistant Dean for Student Affairs. Please note that these rules supersede the policy that a student may drop a course up until the last day of the class without receiving a WD on his or her transcript.
Faculty members may establish a higher standard of regular attendance than that described above, and may also take this higher standard of attendance, class participation, and the quality of class performance into account in determining the student’s grade as long as the faculty member has, during the first week of class, announced an intention to do so or has included that intention in the syllabus or other class materials distributed in the first week of class.
The student’s obligation to be in regular attendance derives from both faculty rule and the rule of state bar examiners. As a prerequisite to a student’s admission to the bar, the Dean must certify to state boards of law examiners that the student has been in regular attendance. The Law School must be the student’s principal commitment during each semester. Extensive employment is disfavored because of its tendency to interfere with the student’s academic life at the Law School. In no event may a full-time student devote more than 20 hours in any week to such employment during the semester.
Students must complete the requirements within five years of their initial registration at and through the Law School unless extended or modified by the Vice Dean or vote of the Executive Committee consistent with ABA and Court rules. This requirement is a prerequisite to receipt of the Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree. Certification of attendance and graduation is a prerequisite for admission to the bar examination.
Students will not be registered for courses with overlapping times. This is against the attendance policies of the ABA and the Court of Appeals.
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Time Allowed for Completing Degree Requirements
Candidates who devote full-time to their studies can complete the 24 credit hours required for the LL.M. degree in one academic year. A candidate, full-time or part-time, is allowed no more than five years to complete all degree requirements. International students should keep in mind their Visa requirements when considering the time allowed for completing degree requirements. Please refer to the Office for International Students and Scholars for additional information.
Requirement of Continuous Registration / Leave of Absence
Every candidate for the LL.M. degree must be in continuous attendance by successfully completing at least one course each semester (excluding the summer session), unless a leave of absence is granted before the start of the semester by the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs. Leaves of absence are granted only for adequate reason and only to students who are in good academic standing. Students who have not completed their first term at the School of Law are not eligible for a leave of absence. Such students may request withdrawal only, and will be required to reapply to the School of Law in the event they wish to return. A maintenance of matriculation and services fee is charged for each semester a student is on leave of absence. A leave of absence does not extend the five-year period allotted for obtaining the LL.M. degree. Please contact the Office of Student Affairs for detailed information.
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Change of Status
In rare cases, students may change their status from full-time to part-time or part-time to full-time. Newly accepted students must petition the Office of Graduate Admissions; continuing students must petition the Office of Graduate Affairs. The tuition rates will be assessed on a per credit basis for the fall, spring, and subsequent semesters, and students should consult the Office of Financial Services.
Academic Progress
Students in the LL.M. program are expected to make satisfactory academic progress as determined by the faculty director of their program and the Vice Dean. If a student’s grades in the first semester of the program (for full-time students) or the first year of the program (for part-time students) show a lack of such progress, the faculty director and Vice Dean may impose appropriate requirements, including limitation on the number of credits the student may take in any one semester, a leave of absence, or withdrawal of the student from the school, depending on the student’s record and the reasons for the student’s failure to make satisfactory progress.
A student whose grade point average is less than 2.3 after the completion of the equivalent of one semester of work may register for additional courses only with the permission of the Vice Dean.
Required Grade Point Average
Under present academic regulations the LL.M. degree is awarded only if a student has a grade point average of 2.67 or greater for (1) all 24 credit hours required for the degree, and (2) all credit hours in the candidate's program (if he or she is a candidate for a degree other than the LL.M. in General Studies). All grades, with the exception of substituted courses, or courses taken at another institution or other divisions of NYU, are used in computing the average. The grade point average is computed as follows: A+, 4.33; A, 4.0; A-, 3.67; B+, 3.33; B, 3.0; B-, 2.67; C, 2.0; D, 1.0; F,0. The GPA is figured by dividing the grade points earned by the number of credits attempted. For Grading Guidelines and Deadlines, please see the Student Handbook.
Re-registration and Substitution
A student who receives an F in a course earns no credit towards the LL.M. degree for that course. If the F is in a required course, the student must re-register for, and successfully complete, that course in the next semester the course is offered to qualify for the LL.M. degree. If the F is not in a required course, the student may re-register for that course or take another course to earn the required credits.
An LL.M. student who has a GPA below 2.67 after one year of study (or the equivalent in the case of part-time students) may take up to six additional credits (in any combination of courses but not exceeding six credits) in an effort to raise the student’s GPA but in no event more than 30 credits in total. Any additional credits may be taken in new courses, directed research, or in courses in which the student's grade was C or lower. The substituted-for grades will remain on the student's transcript but will not be counted in the student's GPA. Tuition will be charged for additional credits according to University and Law School rules.
Re-registrations and substitutions must be paid for on a per credit basis, unless these elections are made during a semester in which the student is registered as a full-time student, and does not exceed the cap on credits per semester.
After a professor has submitted a grade to the Records Office, the professor may not change the grade unless he or she certifies in writing that it was incorrect as a result of a mechanical computation or transcription error. A grade may not be changed as a result of a reevaluation of a student's work.
Under University rule grades may not be changed for any reason after the student has graduated.
Student Degree Progress
It is your responsibility to review your record on Albert on a regular basis. You must check the status of incompletes and your total credits earned. To do this you should refer to the "EHRS" column on your transcript. "EHRS" reports your total earned credits. Do not rely upon the "AHRS" column on your transcript since that reports attempted hours (i.e., it includes courses you dropped, language courses, etc.) and not earned hours. If you have concerns about your transcript and your progress towards degree, please contact the Office of Graduate Affairs. All work begun in the final semester must be turned in no later than the last day of the exam period unless a faculty member has set an earlier deadline. All incomplete work from prior semesters must be turned in to professors by May 1 of your final semester for those graduating in the spring, by September 1 for those graduating in September, or by January 5 for those graduating in January (unless a faculty member has set an earlier deadline).
Students may also fill out a Student Degree Progress Report and meet with the Office of Graduate Affairs in the beginning of their last semester to discuss any issues.
Credit/Fail
LL.M. students are not permitted to take courses on a credit/fail basis. Graduate students are not permitted to receive academic credit for participation on journals or moot courts. Students will receive a notation on their transcripts instead.
Auditing
With the permission of the instructor and subject to such conditions as the instructor may impose, a student may audit a course. Courses that are closed (filled) may not be audited. Auditing courses is considered "unofficial," and students: 1) do not enroll in those courses, 2) do not take examinations in those courses, and 3) do not write papers for those courses. Audited courses do not appear on the student's transcript. Please note that graduate students may not audit J.D.-only courses.
Transfer Credit
At the discretion of the Vice Dean, a candidate for the LL.M. degree may be allowed to transfer credit for courses taken at another institution if: (1) the courses were taken as graduate courses at a law school accredited by the Section of Legal Education of the American Bar Association or an equivalent non-U.S. school; (2) the courses were taken after the candidate received his or her first degree in law; (3) the courses were completed with a grade point average of 3.0 or better (on a 4.0 scale); and (4) the candidate received no credit for these courses toward any other degree. Grades from courses taken at another institution or other divisions of NYU are not used in computing grade point averages.
University regulations require every candidate to complete 16 credit hours in residence at the NYU School of Law in order to qualify for the LL.M. degree. In addition, Law School regulations require a student to successfully complete the minimum number of in-field credits required for such student's degree program.
Subject to the foregoing limitations, transfer credit can be obtained for work done either before or after a student’s initial matriculation at the Law School. If a presently enrolled student plans to take a course at another school for transfer credit, the course must be directly related to the study of law in order for credit to be applied towards the LL.M. degree. Few courses in other disciplines can meet this standard. The student should consult with the Office of Graduate Affairs about his or her plans before registering for the course.
Certification for Bar Examination
It is the student's responsibility to complete all work and meet all graduation requirements. Unless an extension is granted by the Vice Dean's office in consultation with the faculty member, students must complete incomplete work from prior semesters no later than May 1 of their final semester. Students must complete all work from their final semester by the last day of the exam period. All grades must be entered by the University Registrar's Office before a student can be certified to take the Bar Examination.
It is the student's responsibility until the date of the Bar Examination to update all contact information on Albert (e.g., address, phone number, etc.). We must be able to contact you if questions arise.
A student who, at the time of graduation, is financially obligated to the University for tuition, housing (including summer housing after the final semester), library (library fines of $100.00 or more or lost books), or other services, or who are not in compliance with University Health Center immunization requirements, will have a "HOLD" placed on their account, will not be cleared for graduation, be certified for state bar examinations, have official transcripts issued, or have a diploma issued until all arrears have been paid. It is the student's responsibility to make sure all accounts are cleared and all Stops/Holds are removed.
For specific inquiries on the bar examination, please contact the Office of Records and Registration, or review the information on their website.