Public Policy (MS) / Juris Doctor (JD)
Major: Public Policy and Law
Degree Awarded: Master of Science (MS) and Juris Doctor (JD)
Calendar Type: Semester
Minimum Required Credits: 115.0 (79 JD + 36 MS)
Co-op Option: None
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 22.0101
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code:
About the Program
Amid demographic, economic, political and environmental change, leaders in either the public or private sector require insight and analysis grounded in policy, democratic process and the law. The overlapping roles of public agencies and private organizations create a wide range of issues that raise legal challenges and opportunities.
Our JD-Master of Science in Public Policy Program gives students a strong foundation in research, analysis, economics and law in tandem with hands-on learning and networking opportunities with non-profit organizations and government agencies throughout the Delaware Valley.
Students take courses at the law school and Drexel's College of Arts & Sciences (Center for Public Policy), earning degrees from both. In addition to acquiring basic skills in the two disciplines, students gain a unique perspective on legal research and its application in legal practice.
Our faculty features widely recognized scholars whose expertise covers a range of topics in public policy. Course offerings include Essentials of Economics, Sustainability and Public Policy, Case Study Research, Constitutional Law, Theory and Practice of Policy Analysis and a Lawyering Practice Seminar.
Additional Information
For more information, please visit the JD-MS Public Policy web page.
Admission Requirements
- Applicants must have earned a baccalaureate degree from an institution accredited by one of the regional accrediting associations of the United States or, if foreign educated, a degree equivalent to a four year baccalaureate degree
- Applicants must be registered for Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS)
- Applicants must have taken the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT)
- The candidate’s undergraduate grade point average and LSAT scores will be strong factors in determining admission to the law school.
- In addition, the Admissions Committee will consider a student’s extracurricular activities, work experience, and volunteer service.
- To be admitted to the joint degree after matriculating at the Law School, students must have at least a 2.5 law school GPA.
Degree Requirements
Please note that the credits for the LAW courses are shown in semester credits and the remaining courses are shown in quarter credits. This program requires the completion of 45.0 quarter credits for the MS and 85.0 semester credits for the JD*.
Required Courses: | ||
LAW 550S | Torts | 4.0 |
LAW 552S | Contracts | 4.0 |
LAW 554S | Civil Procedure | 4.0 |
LAW 555S | Legislation and Regulation | 3.0 |
LAW 556S | Property | 4.0 |
LAW 558S | Criminal Law | 4.0 |
LAW 560S | Constitutional Law | 4.0 |
LAW 565S | Legal Methods I | 3.0 |
LAW 566S | Legal Methods II | 3.0 |
LAW 830S | Professional Responsibility | 3.0 |
LAW 724S | Nonprofit Organizations | 3.0 |
Upper-Level Writing Law course | 2.0 | |
Statutory Law course | 2.0 | |
Approved Law Electives ** | 36.0 | |
Required Public Policy MS courses: | ||
PLCY 503 | Theory and Practice of Policy Analysis | 3.0 |
PLCY 504 | Methods of Policy Analysis | 3.0 |
PLCY 506 | Institutional Dynamics of the Policy Process | 3.0 |
One of the following economics courses (taken before ECON 616): | 3.0 | |
Essentials of Economics | ||
Managerial Economics | ||
ECON 616 | Public Finance and Cost Benefit Analysis | 3.0 |
INFO 680 | US Government Information | 3.0 |
Statistics Elective - choose 2: | 6.0 | |
Data Analysis in Communication | ||
Intro to Econometrics and Data Analysis | ||
Econometrics | ||
Business Statistics | ||
Statistics for Business Analytics | ||
Quantitative Methods & Reasoning for Urban Strategists | ||
Case Study Courses | 9.0 | |
Introduction to Case Study Research | ||
Case Study Research II | ||
Case Study Final Project | ||
Approved Public Policy Elective Course | 3.0 | |
Total Credits | 115.0 |
- *
PLCY 503, PLCY 504, and PLCY 506 (9.0 quarter credits) are applied as 6.0 semester credits of LAW electives, reducing the credits that need to be taken in LAW to 79.0 semester credits. LAW 555S and LAW 724S (6.0 semester credits) are applied as 9.0 quarter credits of Public Policy electives, reducing the credits that need to be taken in the MS to 36.0 quarter credits.
- **
Must include a Co-op or Clinic with co-requisite seminar
Upper-level writing (WUL) courses may also be used as electives once requirement is fulfilled | ||
LAW 610S | Reproductive Rights & Justice | 2.0-3.0 |
LAW 611S | Sex, Gender, & the Law | 3.0 |
LAW 614S | Supreme Court Seminar | 3.0 |
LAW 640S | Education Law | 2.0-3.0 |
LAW 647S | The Rights of Children | 2.0 |
LAW 673S | Crime and Community | 2.0 |
LAW 741S | Estate Planning | 2.0 |
LAW 790S | Toxic Torts | 2.0 |
LAW 793S | Mental Health Law ** | 3.0 |
LAW 805S | Public Interest Law and Policy | 2.0 |
LAW 827S | Immigration Litigation | 2.0 |
LAW 832S | Contract Theory Seminar | 2.0-3.0 |
LAW 836S | Legal History | 2.0-3.0 |
LAW 838S | Foundations of Legal Analysis | 2.0 |
LAW 840S | Literature and The Law Seminar | 2.0 |
LAW 842S | Law and Mind Sciences | 2.0 |
LAW 844S | Law and Social Movements | 3.0 |
LAW 848S | Courts and Public Policy | 2.0-3.0 |
LAW 882S | Litigation Drafting | 2.0 |
LAW 884S | Contract Drafting | 2.0 |
LAW 910S | Appellate Advocacy | 2.0 |
LAW 920S | Drexel Law Review *** | 1.0-6.0 |
LAW T880S | Special Topics in LAW | 1.0-5.0 |
Statutory Courses (may also be used as electives once requirement is fulfilled): | ||
LAW 620S | Administrative Law | 4.0 |
LAW 622S | Employment Discrimination | 3.0 |
LAW 623S | Election Law | 3.0 |
LAW 624S | Environmental Law | 3.0 |
LAW 642S | Special Education Law | 2.0-3.0 |
LAW 674S | Health Care Fraud and Abuse | 2.0 |
LAW 675S | Federal Criminal Law | 2.0-3.0 |
LAW 676S | White Collar Crime | 2.0-3.0 |
LAW 700S | Business Organizations | 3.0-4.0 |
LAW 701S | Federal Income Tax | 4.0 |
LAW 702S | Enterprise Tax | 4.0 |
LAW 706S | Secured Transactions | 3.0 |
LAW 708S | Payment Systems | 3.0 |
LAW 710S | Bankruptcy | 3.0-4.0 |
LAW 711S | Sales | 3.0 |
LAW 714S | Securities Regulation | 3.0 |
LAW 740S | Trusts and Estates | 3.0 |
LAW 760S | Copyright | 3.0 |
LAW 761S | Patents | 3.0 |
LAW 764S | Trademarks & Unfair Competition | 3.0 |
LAW 792S | Food and Drug Law | 3.0 |
LAW 796S | Insurance Law | 2.0 |
LAW 820S | Immigration Law | 3.0-4.0 |
LAW 821S | European Union Law | 2.0-3.0 |
LAW 826S | Refugee and Asylum Law | 2.0 |
Professional Practice Courses (may also be used as electives once requirement is fulfilled): | ||
LAW 924S & LAW 653S | Entrepreneurial Law Clinic and Entrepreneurial Law Clinic Seminar | 7.0 |
LAW 931S & LAW 654S | Law Co-op and Lawyering Practice Seminar | 8.0-9.0 |
LAW 933S & LAW 654S | Co-op Intensive and Lawyering Practice Seminar | 12.0 |
LAW 941S & LAW 942S | Criminal Litigation Clinic I and Criminal Litigation Clinic II | 12.0 |
LAW 943S & LAW 944S | Civil Litigation Clinic I and Civil Litigation Clinic II | 12.0 |
LAW 947S & LAW 948S | Federal Litigation and Appeals Clinic and Federal Litigation and Appeals Clinic II | 12.0 |
LAW 950S & LAW 951S | Community Lawyering Clinic I and Community Lawyering Clinic II | 12.0 |
Free Electives † |
- *
If full-year paper
- **
If paper option
- ***
If WUL option
- †
May require permission to enroll
Sample Plan of Study
3 Year Plan of Study
First Year | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits | ||
LAW 550S | 4.0 | LAW 555S (Counts toward Public Policy elective) | 3.0 | Law Electives | 7.0 | ||
LAW 552S | 4.0 | LAW 556S | 4.0 | ||||
LAW 554S | 4.0 | LAW 558S | 4.0 | ||||
LAW 565S | 3.0 | LAW 566S | 3.0 | ||||
15 | 14 | 7 | |||||
Second Year | |||||||
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits | ||
LAW 560S | 4.0 | LAW 830S | 2.0-3.0 | LAW 931S* | 7.0 | ||
LAW 724S | 3.0 | Law Electives | 14.0-13.0 | LAW 654S | 2.0 | ||
Law Electives | 9.0 | Law Elective | 2.0 | ||||
16 | 16 | 11 | |||||
Third Year | |||||||
Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
PLCY 503 | 3.0 | BUSN 502 | 3.0 | ECON 616 | 3.0 | ||
PLCY 510 | 3.0 | INFO 680 | 3.0 | PLCY 506 | 3.0 | ||
Statistics Elective | 3.0 | PLCY 504 | 3.0 | PLCY 517 | 3.0 | ||
Policy Elective | 3.0 | PLCY 516 | 3.0 | ||||
Statistics Elective | 3.0 | ||||||
12 | 15 | 9 | |||||
Total Credits 115 |
3.5 Year Plan of Study
First Year | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||||
LAW 550S | 4.0 | LAW 555S (Counts toward Public Policy elective) | 3.0 | ||||
LAW 552S | 4.0 | LAW 556S | 4.0 | ||||
LAW 554S | 4.0 | LAW 558S | 4.0 | ||||
LAW 565S | 3.0 | LAW 566S | 3.0 | ||||
15 | 14 | ||||||
Second Year | |||||||
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits | ||
LAW 560S | 4.0 | LAW 830S | 2.0-3.0 | LAW 931S* | 7.0 | ||
LAW 724S | 3.0 | Law Electives | 13.0-12.0 | LAW 654S | 2.0 | ||
Law Electives | 7.0 | ||||||
14 | 15 | 9 | |||||
Third Year | |||||||
Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
PLCY 503 | 3.0 | BUSN 502 | 3.0 | ECON 616 | 3.0 | ||
PLCY 510 | 3.0 | INFO 680 | 3.0 | PLCY 506 | 3.0 | ||
Statistics Elective | 3.0 | PLCY 504 | 3.0 | PLCY 517 | 3.0 | ||
Policy Elective | 3.0 | PLCY 516 | 3.0 | ||||
Statistics Elective | 3.0 | ||||||
12 | 15 | 9 | |||||
Fourth Year | |||||||
Fall | Credits | ||||||
Law Electives | 12.0 | ||||||
12 | |||||||
Total Credits 115 |
- *
Recommended, but students can also take Summer classes and complete Experiential Requirement in another semester.