The University of Miami offers a joint JD/MBA program enabling students to earn a JD and an MBA degree in 3-1/2 to 4 years. All the requirements of the JD and MBA programs must be fulfilled. The program allows for 6 law credits to count towards the business degree, and 6 business credits to count towards the JD degree, saving the student as many as 12 credits between the two programs. Questions about the JD program should be directed to William VanderWyden, dean at the School of Law, 305-284-4551, while questions about the MBA program should be directed to Aurora Goicochea at the School of Business Administration, 305-284-2510.

The application deadline for this program is April 1, 2010. To attend an upcoming information session, click here.

Program Highlights

• Students wishing to pursue the JD/MBA program must be admitted to both the JD and MBA programs separately.
• Students wishing to pursue the JD/MBA program must commence law study first. Students who have already commenced work on the MBA are not eligible for the joint program.
• JD students wishing to pursue the JD/MBA program must be admitted to and begin the MBA program by the Fall semester of their third year of law school. Enrolled law students who are subsequently accepted into the joint program must notify the law school registrar before taking their first credits at the business school.  JD students are required to submit a Full-Time MBA online application to be considered for the JD/MBA Program.
• A JD requires at least 88 credits, 6 of which may be satisfied by MBA courses. Thus, a student in the joint program needs at least 82 law school credits. The law school’s dean of students' office, in conjunction with the registrar, will determine which 6 credits from the MBA program are to be credited to the law degree.
• The first-year law school curriculum is prescribed (except for an elective in the spring of the first year). Law studies must commence in the fall. The upper-level law curriculum is largely elective, though there are certain requirements that must be met beyond the simple accumulation of course credits. In addition to all other requirements for the JD, students in the joint JD/MBA program must complete Business Associations (4 credits), Commercial Law I (4 credits), and Federal Income Taxation (4 credits), and complete at least 12 credits from certain business-related courses at the law school. (See the Handbook and Bulletin for details.) Students must also earn at least 96 residency credits.
• The summer session law curriculum is elective. Students may take as many as 7 credits in the summer. Typically around 8 basic courses are offered, though the number varies from year to year. The summer schedule is released in the April preceding the summer, and there is no guarantee that it will contain courses required by the joint degree program. Summer courses are given in the evening.
• The Two-Year MBA Program requires 48 credits, 6 of which may be satisfied by JD courses and the other 42 credits satisfied by Business School courses. The six JD credits counted towards the MBA will be in recognition of taking Business Associations and Professional Responsibility at the law school. The MBA degree will not be conferred until the completion and transfer of these two courses. Business Associations is normally 4 credits, and Professional Responsibility, 3 credits. Six of these credits will be credited towards the MBA. These courses will also fill requirements for the JD degree.
• The first-year business school curriculum is prescribed. Business studies must commence in the fall. The second-year business school curriculum is elective, except for prescribed courses in the second term of the fourth semester. Because the MBA program is a two-year lock-step program, the second year of business school must be completed in the academic year immediately following the first. There are no summer courses in the MBA program.
• In any semester in which students are enrolled in law courses, they may not take more than a total of 16 credits between the JD and MBA programs. Such students who wish to take a 17th credit may request permission from the Dean of Students. Permission to take more than 17 will not be granted.
• Students may not work in their first two semesters of law school; thereafter, they may work up to 20 hours a week in any semester in which they are taking a total of 12 or more credits between the law school and the business school. Any student who takes more than 6 credits in the summer may not work more than 20 hours a week.
• Finishing the two degrees in 3-1/2 years requires attendance in summer sessions at the law school, and may be more expensive than completing the degree requirements over a four-year period.
• Please visit University of Miami - School of Law for additional information.

3 1/2 Year Program
(with two summer sessions; law students begin MBA after first year of law school.)

Fall Spring Summer Annual Cumulative

3 1/2 Year Program
(with three summer sessions; law students begin MBA after first year of law school.)

Fall Spring Summer Annual Cumulative

4 Year Program
(with no summer sessions; law students begin MBA after first year of law school.)

Fall Spring Summer Annual Cumulative

•  
  •  
    
    

    
    4 Year Program
    (with two summer sessions; law students begin MBA after second year of law school.)

    Fall Spring Summer Annual Cumulative

    	Fall	Spring	Summer	Annual	Cumulative
    First Year
    Law	16	16	6	38	38
    MBA	0	0	0	0	0
    Second Year
    Law	16	16	6	38	76
    MBA	0	0	0	0	0
    Third Year
    Law	3	3	0	6	82
    MBA	12	12	0	24	24
    Fourth Year
    Law	0	0	0	0	82
    MBA	6	12	0	18	42

  • 
    

    
    4 Year Program
    (with summer session after first year; law students begin MBA after second year of law school.)

    Fall Spring Summer Annual Cumulative

    	Fall	Spring	Summer	Annual	Cumulative
    First Year
    Law	16	16	7	38	38
    MBA	0	0		0	0
    Second Year
    Law	16	16	0	32	70
    MBA	0	0	0	0	0
    Third Year
    Law	3	3	0	6	76
    MBA	12	12	0	24	24
    Fourth Year
    Law	6	0	0	6	82
    MBA	6	12	0	18	42

• 
  

  4 Year Program
  (with no summer sessions; law students begin MBA after second year of law school.)

  Fall Spring Summer Annual Cumulative

  	Fall	Spring	Summer	Annual	Cumulative
  First Year
  Law	16	16	0	32	32
  MBA	0	0	0	0	0
  Second Year
  Law	16	16	0	32	64
  MBA	0	0	0	0	0
  Third Year
  Law	4	4	0	8	72
  MBA	12	12	0	24	24
  Fourth Year
  Law	10	0	0	10	82
  MBA	6	12	0	18	42

  
  

  
  4 Year Program
  (with summer session after first year; law students begin MBA after first year of law school.)

  Fall Spring Summer Annual Cumulative

  	Fall	Spring	Summer	Annual	Cumulative
  First Year
  Law	16	16	6	38	38
  MBA	0	0	0	0	0
  Second Year
  Law	4	4	0	8	46
  MBA	12	12	0	24	24
  Third Year
  Law	10	4	0	14	60
  MBA	6	12	0	18	42
  Fourth Year
  Law	16	10	0	32	82
  MBA	0	0	0	0	42