2017-2018 Undergraduate & Graduate Catalog
Legal Education Admission Program (LEAP), Legal Studies
Students who are accepted into the Grand Valley School of Criminal Justice and Michigan State College of Law (MSUCL) 3+3 program called LEAP complete a minimum of 91 credits comprising the required undergraduate courses in their first three years of study at Grand Valley. This includes all university-level requirements as well as the requirements for the legal studies major. Upon admission to the law school, legal studies students complete their undergraduate electives with law school courses. Up to 29 credits of MSUCL work in which the student has earned a 2.0 or above will be accepted. The B.S. or B.A. will be awarded upon satisfactory completion of the number of credits and requirements necessary for the undergraduate program.
LEAP is open only to those students who matriculate as first-year students at Grand Valley. Students may apply any time prior to their senior year for consideration under the program. A joint committee that is comprised of faculty from both institutions will admit students to the LEAP program on the basis of undergraduate record, ACT scores and other information deemed relevant. In order to be eligible for consideration for final admission to MSUCL, students enrolled in the 3+3 program must have earned an aggregate Grand Valley grade point average of 3.6 or above, achieve an LSAT score of 156 or above, and satisfy any other current MSUCL admission requirements.
Suggested Order of Coursework
First Year
- A writing skills course
- One or two humanities/arts general education courses
- One or two science general education courses
- Electives (or foreign language)
- ACC 212 - Principles of Financial Accounting (3 credits)
- LS 201 - Introduction to Law (3 credits)
- LS 426 - Civil Litigation I (3 credits)
Second Year
- Three or four legal studies courses (such as LS 324, LS 428, and LS 420)
- CJ 300 and STA 215 (B.S. degree)
- One or two general education courses
- Electives or foreign language
- Additional writing skills if needed
Third Year
- Two or three legal studies courses at 400-level (such as LS 420 and LS 422)
- Completion of general education courses
- LS 490 - Legal Studies Internship (3 to 6 credits)
- LS 495 - Legal Thought (Capstone) (3 credits)