Graduate Tax Program

The School of Law is an integral part of Boston University—the fourth-largest independent university in the United States and a hub of intellectual, scientific, and cultural activity. One of the world’s great academic centers, the University comprises seventeen Schools and Colleges, offering more than 250 degree programs—everything from physics to opera and medieval history to cutting-edge medicine. With over 3,600 faculty members and over 30,000 students, it pursues the ideal of a research university—the active pursuit of education together with the quest for new knowledge. LL.M. students are fully able to take advantage of the rich intellectual life and tremendous resources of a large university.

With one of the largest international student populations among all American universities, Boston University reflects the diversity that characterizes the United States. Students attend Boston University from all fifty states and from more than 135 foreign countries. European and East Asian students have been attending the University since the 1870s.

Boston University’s campus extends over 131 acres from the historic Back Bay section of Boston westward along the south bank of the Charles River. From the townhouses of Bay State Road to state-of-the-art laboratories and classrooms, from peaceful parks and esplanades to the city life of Commonwealth Avenue, the University offers a clean, safe, and attractive environment in which students live and study.

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School of Law

Boston University School of Law, which began educating lawyers in 1872, has been a pioneer and innovator in American legal education whose programs have been emulated by other schools. From its beginning, the School of Law has opened its doors to both men and women, and has welcomed people of every race and ethnicity. Its alumni body is diverse by every standard, including professional position, gender, race, national origin, and nationality.

The School of Law’s Juris Doctor program currently enrolls approximately 800 students from the United States and abroad in a rich curriculum, balancing theory and practice. Post graduate legal education leading to the Master of Laws degree has been offered by the School for approximately 120 years. At the present time, three LL.M. programs in addition to the Graduate Tax Program are offered. The LL.M. in American Law program provides foreign-trained lawyers with a basic grounding in American law and the U.S. legal system by integrating them into the J.D. curriculum. The Graduate Program in Banking and Financial Law prepares international and domestic lawyers for work with public and private clients in the new global financial markets. The LL.M. in Intellectual Property program is open to domestic and international lawyers who wish to take advantage of the School’s extraordinary strength in intellectual property teaching. During the 2004/2005 academic year the LL.M. programs enrolled 278 students, 162 of whom came from 50 law schools throughout the United States and 116 of whom were international lawyers from over 30 other countries.

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Graduate Tax Program

The Graduate Tax Program is designed to expose students to the rigorous academic challenges of current tax law, and to train them to be excellent tax practitioners. Students may attend on either a part-time or full-time basis. Classes are scheduled only during the late afternoon and evening hours in order to facilitate participation by working lawyers. Lawyers in southern New England can take selected Program courses through the Distance Education Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

The goal of the Program is to confer an advanced degree that reflects a mastery of tax law—its practice, its ethics, and some of its subtleties. The extremely broad and diverse curriculum offers five required courses and 33 challenging electives which provide each student with the flexibility to undertake, if he or she wishes, an in-depth examination of a specific area of interest. Possible concentrations in areas such as Estate Planning, General Business Taxation, International Taxation, and Nonprofit Organizations are listed after the Curriculum section of this bulletin. Classes are small and tend to be intense. The faculty works to maintain an appropriate balance between tax law theory and the practical needs of degree candidates who wish to excel as tax practitioners.

The Program’s student body is comprised of both recent graduates of law schools throughout the country and practitioners at many of the nation’s leading law firms and tax consulting firms. International students make up a small but growing percentage of the student body. Several firms routinely encourage newly hired associates to take advantage of the Graduate Tax Program, recognizing that the Program provides the skills their associates need to thrive in a field as complex as tax law. Most Program graduates are engaged in private practice, but several work for government agencies and corporate law departments.

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Accreditation

Boston University is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, is recognized by the State University of New York, and is a member of the following agencies: American Association of University Women, American Council on Education, Association of American Colleges, Association of Urban Universities, Council of Graduate Schools in the United States, EDUCOM Interuniversity Communications Council, Institute of International Education, and National Association of Schools and Colleges of the United Methodist Church.

The School of Law is a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools. It is approved by the American Bar Association through its Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, and by the Board of Regents for the State of New York.

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