400 Huntington Avenue, 101 Knowles Center
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: 617.373.2395; Fax: 617.373.8865
E-mail: lawadmissions@neu.edu; Website: www.northeastern.edu/law
"Experiential" and "collaborative" are today's hot buttons in legal education. But for one school, those buttons have been hot for more than 40 years. At Northeastern University School of Law, we developed our practical learning education model in 1968. Central to it is our Cooperative Legal Education Program, which allows students to graduate with four, quarter-long, full-time jobs on their résumés. Combining classroom theory and rigorous academics with work experience, Northeastern law students receive their JD degrees in the same three-year period as students at other schools, but graduate with at least 1,500 hours of full-time work experience.
We walk the walk in terms of collaboration, too. Instead of grades, students get written evaluations from their professors and co-op employers. Without an onerous class rank, students are free to work together and take intellectual risks. The school cultivates a culture of cooperation, collaboration, and mutual respect. Our talented students, graduates, and faculty understand what it is lawyers do, how they should do it, and the difference they can make in the lives of others. Consistently recognized as one of the best public interest programs in the nation, the school's commitment to social justice extends through the curriculum, co-op program, clinics and institutes, and student group activism.
Northeastern law students are people who believe that if you don't agree with the system—change it. They're risk takers who enjoy using the law—and their careers—in both traditional and nontraditional ways. They're team players who thrive on learning together as opposed to learning at the expense of others. They're realists who believe practical experience is critical to the legal education process. And best of all, they're passionate idealists who truly believe they can change the world.
Northeastern's Cooperative Legal Education Program guarantees all students four, full-time work experiences (co-ops) prior to graduation. Students alternate periods of academic study with equal periods of workplace experience during their second and third years of law school. During the first year, students follow a traditional, two-semester, full-time academic schedule. At the end of the first year, students switch to a year-round, quarter system. For the remaining two years, students alternate every three months between working full time on co-op and attending classes. By participating in four, full-time co-op placements with four different legal employers, students are provided with an extraordinary opportunity to experience the actual practice of law and to determine their career paths based on practical training.
More than 900 employers worldwide currently participate in the co-op program, representing virtually every practice area, including law firms of all sizes, trial and appellate judges in federal and state courts, public defender and legal services organizations, government agencies, corporate and union legal departments, and a variety of advocacy groups. Students work with employers in more than 40 states and countries. In recent years, students have increasingly developed their own co-ops in the United States and abroad.
Students may be paid on co-op with salaries ranging from minimal compensation for public interest employers to more than $3,100 per week for large private firms. Some students may be eligible for federal Work-Study funding; additionally, every qualified law student is guaranteed one $2,500 stipend to support an unfunded government or public interest law co-op.
Northeastern offers students the opportunity to engage in advocacy on behalf of individuals and community organizations often unacknowledged or underrepresented by the justice system. Together, the clinics, institutes, and special programs reflect and fulfill a commitment to social and economic justice that distinguishes Northeastern as one of the nation's foremost public interest law schools. Students can participate with faculty and staff in the work of the following outstanding research and service centers: the Domestic Violence Institute, the Public Health Advocacy Institute, the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy, the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, and the Program on Health Policy and Law. Northeastern also offers seven clinics: Civil Rights and Restorative Justice, Community Business, Criminal Advocacy, Domestic Violence, Poverty Law and Practice, Prisoners' Rights, and Public Health. The clinics differ from one another by substantive legal focus, advocacy experience, and the primary skills each seeks to impart. Students engage in challenging legal practice with the support of clinical faculty who provide the requisite training, close supervision, and opportunity for reflection.
Nationally recognized as a leader in public interest law, Northeastern shares, supports, and encourages our students' passion for justice. Recently, over 90 percent of our students fulfilled our public interest law graduation requirement through a public interest co-op, and about 45 percent of our students participated in our clinics providing legal assistance to underserved communities. In addition, every first-year student participates in Legal Skills in Social Context, a one-of-a-kind, year-long signature course introducing the central skills of effective lawyering: legal research, objective and persuasive legal writing, client representation, critical analysis, and oral skills—all heavily grounded in the social contexts in which the law is practiced. "Law offices" of about 14 first-year students plan and execute a social justice project—an extensive real-world legal research project on behalf of a community-based or public service organization.
The School of Law has one of the most diverse student bodies in the country. Fifty-five percent of the students in the first-year class are women, 39 percent are people of color, 11 percent identify as LGBT, and 11 percent hold advanced degrees. Our first-year students range in age from 20 to 45 and approximately 71 percent have taken one or more years after graduation from college before enrolling in law school. They come from 31 different states and over 140 various undergraduate institutions. Students are active participants in the law school community, serving on all of the school's standing committees, including the Admissions Committee. Students also run a wide variety of more than 30 organizations, ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the Queer Caucus to the Northeastern University Law Journal.
Northeastern offers seven dual-degree programs. In cooperation with Tufts University School of Medicine, students may pursue a JD/MPH program. Completion of the dual-degree program takes three and a half years, rather than the average five years if the degrees were obtained sequentially. The School of Law has also partnered with Brandeis University's Heller School of Social Policy and Management to offer a JD/MA in sustainable international development. This accelerated four-year program includes combined law/international development co-ops. For students interested in environmental law, the School of Law, in conjunction with Vermont Law School, offers its law students the opportunity to earn both a JD and a master's degree in environmental law and policy (MELP) in the same three-year period it would take to earn just the JD. Dual degrees are also available from other schools and colleges at Northeastern University, including a JD/MBA, JD/MSA/MBA, JD/MS/PhD-Law and Public Policy, and JD/MA-Music Industry Leadership.
The Office of Career Services actively assists students and graduates in their pursuit of professionally rewarding careers. Students generally find their postgraduate employment prospects to be substantially enhanced through the co-op program; on average, approximately 40 percent accept postgraduate employment with one of their former co-op employers. Northeastern graduates are employed throughout the world in every practice area. They may be found teaching at distinguished law schools, sitting on the bench at both the state and federal levels, practicing as partners in prominent law firms, and serving as directors of legal aid and public defender programs throughout the nation. Graduates of Northeastern enter public service careers at a rate that is three times the national average. In addition, graduates have been awarded prestigious postgraduate fellowships, including those granted by Skadden, Equal Justice Works, Georgetown, and the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Northeastern is committed to providing access to all admitted students. Each year, the School of Law awards more than $1.5 million to first-year students based on a combination of need and merit. Scholarships include the Dean's Scholarship, Academic Excellence Scholarship, Public Interest Law Scholarship, Social Justice Scholarship, Peace Corps Scholarship, Teach For America Scholarship, and Designated Law Scholarship. These scholarships represent a three-year commitment, with awards guaranteed for the upper-level years as long as the student remains in good academic standing. The law school also provides co-op stipends, endowed scholarships for upper-level students, and a Loan Deferral and Forgiveness Program for graduates pursuing careers in public interest.
Building on our signature approach to experience-based legal education, we recently launched an LLM program designed to provide foreign law graduates with the skills and training necessary to succeed in global legal practice environments. This vibrant LLM program allows students to specialize in specific practice areas.
Northeastern University School of Law does not provide an applicant profile based solely upon LSAT scores and undergraduate GPAs. The Admissions Committee at Northeastern seeks to enroll a diverse, talented, and passionate student body that is eager to make a difference in the world. In keeping with the school's collaborative community spirit, the School of Law incorporates students, staff, and faculty in its admissions process as members of the school's Admissions Committee. In making its decisions, the Admissions Committee considers academic criteria, including undergraduate grades and LSAT score, as well as other accomplishments, work experience, life experience, community involvement, the essays and personal statement, recommendations from individuals who know the candidate well, and any other relevant information.