MBA/Juris Doctorate (Law)

MBA/Juris Doctorate (Law)

A cooperative educational program addressing the interaction of law and business administration is available through the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Law School) and Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business. One need only look at the history of our society, as well as at both business and law school offerings to see that numerous concerns are common to both, especially in such areas as labor, antitrust, and corporate finance. Certainly, legal considerations affect many management decisions, and the quality of the practice of law is enhanced by a better understanding of the business policy considerations involved.

In response, we have worked with the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and designed a rigorous four-year dual-degree program. This dual-degree program benefits students by enabling them to receive integrated training in law and business, while saving time by reducing the period of time necessary to earn the two degrees from five years to four years. The dual degree program also enables graduates to act in an interdisciplinary fashion, helping them to more effectively merge the policy considerations underlying law and business in our society.

Program Structure

The candidate must satisfy both schools' degree requirements. At the Law School, 88 credits must be completed for the Juris Doctor (JD) degree, while MBA requires 192 units for the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree. Completing the JD degree while enrolled in the dual-degree program entitles the student to 30 units (10 semester-hours) of advanced standing at the Tepper School and completing the MBA degree entitles the student to 15 credit hours of advanced standing at the Law School.

The candidate must enroll either in the Law School or Tepper during the first year and in the other school during the second year (i.e., the first year is solely dedicated to one of the two programs and the second year is solely dedicated to the other program). The candidate is not permitted to take courses at the other school during this period. During the third and fourth years, a student may take courses at both schools.

Admissions

Interested candidates must apply and be admitted to both the Tepper MBA Program and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Admission to the dual-degree program can be made either prior to attending the Tepper and the School of Law, or during the first year of study at either school. Separate applications must be submitted to each school. In addition, a dual-degree application must be completed with a copy sent to each school. A joint admissions committee will decide upon admission to the dual-degree program once a student has been accepted to each school individually. The dual-degree application must be submitted no later than March 15.

Upon completion of the dual-degree program, students earn both the JD and MBA degrees.

Students are charged tuition at the following rates: during the first year at Tepper, the tuition for full-time MBA students (whether it is the first year of study or not); during the first year at the law school, the law school tuition (whether it is the first year of study or not); during each of the third and fourth years of the program, tuition equal to the sum of 85% of the law school tuition and 42.5% of the tuition for full-time MBA students.  Tuition payments should be made in accordance with the current policies of Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh.

For additional information regarding the MBA/JD dual degree admissions process, please contact Lauren Capone, Assistant Director of Masters Admissions, and for program information please contact Vickie Motz, Associate Director for Academic Planning at the Tepper School of Business.