5.11 Residency for Graduation and BAR Exam Requirements

Students seeking to graduate a semester early (after five semesters for full-time students or seven semesters for part-time students) must notify the Office of Registration and Student Records Management prior to the start of the student’s proposed final semester and obtain the permission of the Academic Dean. Courses where credit hours are awarded for intensive, all-day programs and not spread across a summer session or a semester, do not count towards the residency requirement. Students seeking to graduate early must meet the requirements for opting out of the Core Doctrine course. Students seeking to graduate with schedules other than those described above or who seek to interrupt their matriculation with a leave of absence must obtain advance permission from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Students are responsible for fulfilling the requirements of each state in which they expect to take the bar examination, including New York. Students who plan to take other states’ bar examinations should check the residency requirements of those jurisdictions.

The New York Court of Appeals determines eligibility to sit for the New York State bar exam. Current requirements are that the program and course of study leading to a juris doctor be completed no earlier than 24 months and no later than 60 months after a student has commenced law study at the Law School or a law school from which the school has accepted transfer credit.

The New York Court of Appeals also requires that students who commenced their legal education after April 1, 2012 take a two-credit Professional Responsibility course prior to graduation in order to sit for the New York State bar examination.