A Northern Kentucky University program that allows students to combine their final year of undergraduate studies with their first year of law school at NKU Salmon P. Chase College of Law is expanding.
The Chase 3+3 Accelerated Law Program is now available to students at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati as well as to NKU undergraduate students.
Dean Standen
“We are committed to expanding access to education in our community, and we are proud to collaborate with Mount St. Joseph University in this program that allows high-achieving students to pursue a law degree at Chase College of Law,” said NKU President Geoffrey S. Mearns.
The Chase 3+3 program – named for three years of undergraduate studies and three years of law school – allows eligible students at NKU and the Mount to reduce their education costs by applying their first year of law school courses to both a bachelor’s degree and a law degree. Similar programs at other law schools are typically limited to undergraduates at the university of which the law school is a part. Expansion of the Chase program to the Mount offers an additional pathway for high-performing students to enter Chase.
“Students in the 3+3 program, whether from NKU or Mount St. Joseph, enter Chase with an academic discipline that immediately makes them part of the Chase tradition of hard work and determination to succeed,” said Chase Dean Jeffrey A. Standen. “They demonstrate a remarkable commitment to becoming part of the legal profession.”
For NKU and the Mount, the program links hilltop campuses on two sides of the Ohio River.
“We are excited about the new partnership with NKU and Chase College of Law,” said Mount St. Joseph University President H. James Williams. “It is a win-win, in that it provides greater opportunities for our students who are interested in attending law school and it allows Chase College of Law earlier access to some of the Mount’s top students.”
In order to be accepted into the program, undergraduates must have enough credits toward a baccalaureate degree by the end of their junior year to allow first-year courses at Chase to be counted as electives for completion of the undergraduate degree and also toward a law degree. Students in the program receive bachelor’s degrees from their undergraduate colleges after successfully completing their first year at Chase.
By combining the final year of undergraduate school with a first year at Chase, students are able to obtain both degrees in six years instead of the traditional seven. Degrees earned through a 3+3 program satisfy education requirements for taking a bar examination in Kentucky and Ohio.
Students who wish to enroll at Chase through the 3+3 program must take the Law School Admission Test, which is required for all Chase applicants seeking a Juris Doctor degree. For information, visit chaselaw.nku.edu.
