Transfer of Credit Policies

Policies for Granting Credits

For Students Transferring into the JD program at BU Law from another ABA-accredited JD program:

Boston University School of Law (BU Law) will only approve transfer credits from another ABA-accredited institution where the incoming transfer student was enrolled in a J.D. degree program. The student must have earned the credits with a passing grade. Part-time students are eligible to apply to transfer to BU Law, but should substantially complete the equivalent of BU Law’s first-year curriculum before seeking transfer approval.

 Credits will be approved for transfer only for courses that are substantially similar to the 1L or upper-level courses offered by BU  Law, such that, had the student completed the course at the School of Law s/he would have received credit applicable to the Boston University J.D. degree. Students may request to have courses taken in the summer prior to matriculating at BU Law considered for transfer credit, but must provide a copy of the course syllabi to ensure that the course meets BU Law’s credit hour requirements and is substantially the same to BU Law’s semester-based courses. Boston University grants a maximum of 30 transfer credits; the equivalent of the School of Law’s 1L curriculum.

For Students Transferring into the JD program from an LLM program at BU Law:

Boston University School of Law (BU Law) will only approve transfer credits from its own LLM programs where those credits were earned in a JD-degree applicable course. The student must have earned the credits with a passing grade. Boston University grants a maximum of 28 transfer credits for credits earned while enrolled in an LLM program.

For Students Currently Enrolled at BU Law:

Credits From Another ABA-Accredited Law School

A student who has compelling personal reasons to take a semester or year at another ABA/AALS-accredited law school may petition the Academic Standards Committee for permission to attend another law school and to apply credits earned to the BU Law JD degree. If permission is granted, the student must secure, as soon as possible, approval for the proposed courses and must satisfy BU Law’s requirements. Please note that this is a restrictive policy. See Article IV, sec. 6 of the JD Academic Regulations in the JD Student Handbook for more information.

Credit For Courses Taken at Other Boston-Area Law Schools During Regular Academic Year

Under Article IV, sec. 4 of the JD Academic Regulations, students may earn credits for courses taken at other Boston-area law schools during the regular academic year as provided in that regulation. The grades received are recorded on the BU Law transcript but are not included in the student’s average. All tuition and fees ordinarily must be borne by the student; however, pursuant to an arrangement with Boston College Law School, students who take approved courses at that school will not be charged tuition or fees. See Article IV, sec. 4 of the JD Academic Regulations in the JD Student Handbook for more information.

Credit For Summer Course Work or Summer Externships

Students may receive credit for summer courses taken at another ABA-accredited law school only as provided in Article IV, sec. 5 of the JD Academic Regulations in the JD Student Handbook. Grades for such courses will be recorded on the BU Law transcript but are not included in the student’s average. All tuition and fees must be borne by the student. With advance approval from the Dean or the Dean’s designate, students may receive up to 2 credits per summer for an externship involving legal work in a private or governmental position if the student does not receive monetary compensation beyond reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses. Credits earned will neither reduce the minimum credits required for a semester or year nor count toward the 84/85 credits required for the JD degree. For more information, see Article IV, sec. 8 of the JD Academic Regulations.

Credit For Non-Law, Graduate-Level Course Work Taken During the Regular Academic Year

Students may apply to the JD degree a maximum of 12 credits for graduate-level, non-law courses taken at Boston University. Students are limited in the number of such credits that they can apply in a given semester. If the course is open to both graduate and undergraduate students, the student must secure the instructor’s assurance that the student will be held to graduate-level standards. Permission to apply credits from courses open to both graduate and undergraduate students, or courses not offered at Boston University, must be obtained in advance from the Dean or the Dean’s designate. The grades received will be recorded on the BU Law transcript but will not be included in the student’s average. For courses taken at Boston University during the academic year, no additional tuition or fees are charged unless the student exceeds the maximum number of semester credits covered by full-time tuition. For non-BU courses, any tuition and fees must be borne by the student. For more information, see Article IV, sec. 3 of the JD Academic Regulations in the JD Student Handbook.

Credit For Courses Taken at Foreign Universities During the Regular Academic Year

Students who apply and are selected to participate in one of BU Law’s foreign study programs may apply credits earned toward the JD degree subject to the rules developed for the particular program. Consistent with ABA criteria, the acceptance of any credit or grade for any course taken in a foreign program will be determined by BU Law. For all BU Law foreign programs except the JD/LLM in European Law program with Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II), students may apply a maximum of 12 credits toward the JD degree. For the JD/LLM in European Law program with Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II), students may apply 24 credits of their foreign studies toward the JD degree, and must also complete a two-credit independent study with a BU Law faculty member. For more information, including information on tuition and fees, see Study Abroad programs and Article IV, sec. 7 of the JD Academic Regulations.

Students may petition the Academic Standards Committee for permission to participate in, and receive credit for, fall- or spring-semester courses in another school’s ABA-approved semester abroad program. See Article IV, sec. 7.b. for complete information. Students may apply to the JD degree a maximum of 12 credits earned in the other school’s program if the requirements of sec. 7.b. are met.

Currently, BU Law has formal agreements with the following educational institutions which enable BU Law students to apply to the JD degree credits earned through coursework taken at the other institutions:

  • The University of Hong Kong, China
  • Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
  • Oxford University, Oxford, England
  • Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, Lyon, France
  • Université Panthéon-Assas, Paris, France
  • Bucerius Law School, Hamburg, Germany
  • The Buchmann Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
  • The National University of Singapore, Singapore
  • Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland
  • The University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • The University of Florence, Florence, Italy
  • Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE), Madrid, Spain

For information on these programs, see this link.