A joint degree is a course of study, pursued simultaneously, leading to a graduate degree and a professional degree. Normally 12 credits of professional courses are counted toward the graduate degree and 12 credits of graduate courses are counted toward the professional degree. Individual academic units will determine whether or not a joint degree program is appropriate.
All the academic units of DCP offer joint degree opportunities which are handled on a case-by-case basis. A student interested in pursuing two degrees must receive approval from the directors or chairpersons of each academic unit and from the Dean of the Graduate School.
Master of Building Construction/Juris Doctorate and Master of Science in Building Construction/Juris Doctorate
Candidates for admission must meet the entrance requirements for and be accepted by both programs. The joint degree program is not open to students who have already earned one degree. Admission to the second program is required no later than the end of the penultimate year of one degree of the joint degree program. A student must satisfy the curriculum requirements for each degree before either degree is awarded.
Up to 12 credits may be double counted for the MSBC/JD or MBC/JD with concurrence of both programs. A student enrolled in the joint degree program may spend the first year in either the College of Law or the Rinker School of Building Construction. Students may enter the second program thereafter without once again qualifying for admission so long as they have notified the second program before the end of the first week of the first semester in the joint degree program and are in good academic standing when the studies commence in the second program.
A student enrolled in the joint degree program will not receive either degree until he/she has satisfied all of the requirements for both degrees, or until he/she has satisfied the requirements of one of the degrees as if he/she had not been a joint degree candidate.
Master of Arts in Urban & Regional Planning/Juris Doctorate
This Department of Urban & Regional Planning offers a four-year program leading to the Juris Doctor and Master of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning. The degree is offered under the joint auspices of the College of Law and the College of DCP. Up to 18 credits may be double counted for the MAURP/JD with concurrence of both programs
The program provides students interested in the legal problems of urban and regional planning with an opportunity to blend law studies with relevant course work in the planning curriculum. The students receive both degrees at the end of a four-year course of study whereas separate programs would require five years. Students must take the GRE and the LSAT prior to admission, must be admitted to both programs, and must complete the first year of law school course work before commingling law and planning courses. A thesis is required upon completion of the course work.
Interested students should apply to both the Holland Law Center and the Graduate School, noting on the application the joint nature of their admission requests. Further information on the program is available from the Holland Law Center and from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning.
