Joint Degree Tax Program

The Joint Degree Program is a course of study for students interested in graduate work in taxation that enables New York University School of Law J.D. candidates and a limited number of J.D. candidates from other American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law schools to earn the LL.M. in Taxation degree after seven semesters of full-time study.

NYU School of Law students who are in good standing and who have taken Income Taxation are eligible to apply for admission during their sixth semester in the J.D. Program by submitting an abbreviated LL.M. application. Upon completion of the J.D. and admission to the LL.M. in Taxation Program, the NYU School of Law Joint Degree candidate will be given credit for all advanced tax courses successfully completed while pursuing the J.D. If a student has earned enough advanced tax credits prior to receiving the J.D., he or she may meet the requirements for the LL.M. after one additional semester.

Non-NYU School of Law students who wish to participate in the Joint Degree Program may apply to enter NYU for their third year beginning in the fall term. Candidates must have completed two full years (at least 55 credits) and need no more than 30 additional credits to complete requirements for a J.D. degree at their current law school. Special applications for admission to this program, the J.D. Nonmatriculant/LL.M. in Taxation Program, are available from the NYU School of Law Office of Admissions. The application deadline is April 1.

It is expected that admitted students will have taken a course in basic income taxation at their home institutions. Admitted students are considered nonmatriculants at NYU School of Law for their third year of J.D. study and receive their J.D. degrees from their home institutions. Nonmatriculant Joint Degree candidates are expected to complete approximately 12 credits of advanced tax at NYU School of Law during the third year of their J.D. study and officially apply to the LL.M. in Taxation Program during their sixth semester as J.D. students by submitting an abbreviated application. Upon completion of the J.D. and admission to the NYU School of Law LL.M. in Taxation Program, the non-NYU School of Law Joint Degree candidate will be given credit for all advanced tax courses taken at NYU School of Law.

By obtaining advanced credit for tax courses taken as a J.D. student, the Joint Degree candidate may earn the LL.M. degree after one additional semester of full-time study or its equivalent (i.e., 12 credits) on a part-time basis. Regardless of how many advanced tax courses a student takes while pursuing the J.D. degree, after being awarded the J.D. degree, a Joint Degree candidate must take at least one additional semester of full-time study (or its equivalent, i.e., 12 credits) to earn the LL.M. in Taxation.

All of the requirements of both the J.D. (82 credits) and the requirements of the LL.M. (24 credits) must be satisfied by joint degree students. Additionally, joint degree students must satisfy the "in-field" requirement of the LL.M. (in Taxation) degree. That is, 20 of the required 24 LL.M. credits must be in advanced tax courses. For the satisfaction of the degree requirements, only advanced tax courses taken as a J.D. may double-count towards the LL.M. Please note that regardless of whether the student completes the LL.M. portion of the degree on a full-time or part-time basis, s/he must take both a tax policy and a tax procedure course. Because tax policy is only offered during the day, JD/LLM students intending to complete their LL.M. degrees on a part-time basis are strongly urged to complete a tax policy class during their J.D. studies.

Examples

If a participating NYU law student took 12 credits of advanced tax courses while pursuing her J.D. degree, she would need only 12 additional credits to complete the requirements of the LL.M. degree, for a total of 24 credits. At least eight of the 12 post-J.D. credits must be in advanced tax classes to satisfy the in-field requirement.

However, if a participating NYU law student took only 8 credits of advanced tax courses while pursuing her J.D. degree, she would need to complete 16 post-J.D. credits to complete the requirements of the LL.M. degree, for a total of 24 LL.M. credits. In this case, 12 of the post-J.D. credits would have to be in advanced tax classes to satisfy the in-field requirement.

For this reason, joint-degree students are advised to take at least 12 credits of advanced tax courses while a J.D. student.

Regardless of how many advanced tax courses a student takes while pursuing her J.D. degree, after being awarded the J.D. degree, she must take one additional semester of full-time study (or its equivalent, i.e., 12 credits) to earn the LL.M. (in Taxation). For example, if a student took 15 credits in advanced tax courses while a J.D. student, then she must still take 12 credits after receiving the J.D. However, only 5 of the remaining 12 would have to be in advanced tax classes to satisfy the in-field requirement.

Joint degree candidates are assigned a faculty advisor and may also consult the Executive Director of the Tax Program for assistance in course selection and advisement on other academic issues.