ISSUED: 8 January 2019
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University students interested in attending law school now have the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree and gain early admission into The Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Law through a new 3+3 accelerated bachelor/J.D. agreement signed by both schools.
The agreement guarantees that students will be able to use their first year of law school as their final year for the baccalaureate program at Shepherd through a curriculum Shepherd’s Department of Political Science helped develop. The agreement allows exceptional third-year Shepherd undergraduate students to apply for early acceptance into Penn State’s J.D. program.
To qualify, students must have completed all of Shepherd’s graduation, distribution, major, and certification requirements at time of application; must have completed 75 percent of the course credits required to earn an undergraduate degree from Shepherd; must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.70 or higher; must have taken the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and achieved a score in the top 30 percent of the national test takers; and must complete the Penn State Law application by March 31 of the student’s third year at Shepherd. GPA and LSAT scores do not guarantee admission, but set the minimum threshold for acceptance.
“We were thrilled to receive the signed agreement from Penn State Law and look forward to advertising this opportunity and having our Shepherd students work toward admission to this prestigious program,” said Dr. Scott Beard, Shepherd provost.
“We are delighted to have this new partnership and look forward to welcoming Shepherd students to Penn State Law,” said Dr. Hari M. Osofsky, Penn State Law and the School of International Affairs dean.
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