Law Studies Major

 Credit hours: 39

Full-time, part-time

On-Campus

 Start Terms: fall, spring, summer

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The interdisciplinary major in Law Studies provides students with a fundamental knowledge of law, the U.S. legal system, and the professional and scholarly skills necessary to be successful in law school and many law-related careers. The curriculum engages a variety of critical, historical, philosophical, sociological, and other humanistic approaches, to introduce students to the major areas of law that affect life in the United States, highlighting important legal issues that influence current social, political, and economic events. Besides preparing students for legal careers in the local community, the major enables students to become familiar and fluent with legal vocabulary and legal reasoning in order to be engaged and critical citizens in our constitutional republic as industry leaders or civil rights/community activists.

The Law Studies major is a pathway to graduate programs in Law (JD), Master of Legal studies (MSL), or Master of Social Science (MSS).

  • MSL degree is a graduate degree for people who want to study law but who do not desire to be practicing lawyers. The MSL is less expensive and easier to enroll (and involves a shorter time-commitment) and is intended to train professionals in a wide range of industries that must engage with legal questions as they navigate regulatory requirements while managing legal risk in the course of their business.
  • The CU Denver Bachelor of Arts in Law Studies does not train students to be paralegals, but it does allow students with paralegal training to benefit from recent changes in Colorado Law (see Colo. R. Civ. P. 207.1), which allows such students to become Licensed Legal Paraprofessionals (LLPs) upon completion of a 4-year bachelor’s degree in law.

There are two paths to this major (further outlined in "Restrictions, Allowances, and Recommendations"):

  1. Traditional structure, which is well suited for students who know earlier in their career path that this is the major for them or who have fewer transfer credits.
  2. Cluster-based major, which is well suited for students who are interested in bringing in a number of transfer credits, and/or approaching the major based on clusters which can also earn certificates as they move through the major.

Program Requirements

  1. Students must complete a minimum of 39 credit hours, including 27 upper-division (3000-level and above) credit hours, taken from the approved courses below.
  2. Students must earn a minimum grade of C (2.0) in all courses that apply to the major taken at CU Denver and must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to major requirements. 
  3. Students must complete a minimum of 15 upper division (3000-level and above) credit hours with CU Denver faculty. 
  4. Students must complete one of the two paths outlined below (Traditional or Cluster-based).

Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations

  1. There are two paths to this major (each requiring a minimum of 39 credits): the first is a traditional structure which is well suited for students who know earlier in their career path that this is the major for them or who have fewer transfer credits. The second is the cluster-based major which is well suited for students who are interested in bringing in a number of transfer credits, and in approaching the major based on clusters.
  2. For the cluster-based path, students must complete the required Legal Core courses (12 credits) AND two additional clusters of 12 credits each, as well as an exit course (capstone, internship or senior thesis). Completion of a cluster may result in a corresponding certificate if all certificate requirements are satisfied.
  3. With prior approval from the Law Studies director or program designee, up to 6 credits of independent study or internship from any department may be applied to law studies elective courses in the traditional path or to cluster courses in the cluster path. Substitutions to cluster courses can be made with approval of the Law Studies director or program designee.
  4. A maximum of 12 credits of independent study and/or internship approved by the Law Studies director (or designated advisor) may be applied to the major overall. 
  5. For the cluster-based path, courses may apply only in a single cluster.
  6. For the cluster-based path, not all the courses within each cluster can be from one department.
  7. Students cannot both major and minor in Law Studies.