Lincoln College Approved for New Major in Law
Bachelor of Arts in Law Will Be Added in Fall 2019

 

[April 27, 2019] 

Lincoln College has received approval to offer a new Bachelor of Arts in Law degree beginning next fall. The new degree is the latest major added to Lincoln College’s growing list of programs available for bachelor’s degree students.

“We are very pleased to offer this new Bachelor of Arts in Law degree. This will be the eleventh new bachelor’s degree that Lincoln College has added since beginning our transition back to our roots as a degree-granting university,” said Dr. David Gerlach, president of Lincoln College. “This degree is particularly exciting because the program has been designed to be unlike that offered by any other college or university in the nation.”

Approval for the program was required by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), which is the regional accreditation agency for post-secondary institutions in 19 states. The HLC approved the program in mid-April.

After a thorough study, Lincoln College determined that a Bachelor of Arts in Law degree would be a good fit for Lincoln College and set about designing a curriculum that will give the college a unique program unavailable at other schools.

While there are a handful of schools across the country that offer undergraduate degree programs in law, the Lincoln College program has unique characteristics that will make it stand out from other colleges and universities. For example, the Lincoln College program will offer courses that are similar to those offered during the first two years of most law schools.

The curriculum will include a full semester-long LSAT (Law School Admission Test) preparation course. Courses were designed with the help of an advisory board of practicing attorneys and will be taught by experienced judges and lawyers using the same methods and approach followed by law schools.

At the same time, the program will offer the flexibility to pursue tracks other than law school preparation, for those students who choose not to attend law school but would still like to work in the legal profession.

Lincoln College has also secured a letter of intent for partnership from Chicago-Kent School of Law, which would assure that qualified, participating students would be admitted to the law school upon graduation.

The Bachelor of Arts in Law program will prepare graduates to advance to law school or pursue other career opportunities requiring a solid foundation in law such as paralegals, legal administrative assistants, and legal interns.

The program will provide students with the skills necessary to think critically, write competently and persuasively about legal issues, utilize current technology to perform legal research and associated tasks, conduct themselves ethically in their professional and personal lives, and analyze case law.

The curriculum will consist of core substantive law classes to prepare students for the rigorous legal study and writing they will encounter in the first two years of law school. The curriculum culminates with a Moot Court Trial competition where students will have the opportunity to apply what they have learned.

[Mark Gordon
Public Relations and Media Manager
Lincoln College]