Accelerated Integrated JD-MBA
The Law School and Yale's
School of Management (SOM) unveiled a pilot three-year joint degree program
last spring for students interested in an integrated law and business
curriculum. At the end of the three year Accelerate Integrated JD-MBA
program (AI JD-MBA), students earn both a JD and an MBA. Yale is the
third university in the country to offer a three-year JD-MBA and the first do
so without requiring summer classes. The summer before the first year of
the program and subsequent summers during the program are open, so students can
pursue internships and other employment opportunities.
"The program will prepare students for the increasingly complex
intersection of business and law," said former Dean Harold Koh.
"Students will master analytical and quantitative skills that will
be of value for a business law-related practice but also more broadly for
careers as entrepreneurs and managers in business and non-profit
organizations."
The new program supplements our existing four-year JD-MBA program, one of the
most popular joint degree programs at YLS. As the name implies, the
four-year JD-MBA allows students to complete both degrees in four years with no
summer coursework. One of the highlights of this program (and most of our
other joint degree programs) is the curricular and scheduling flexibility
afforded to participants. Students in the four-year program are mostly
free to choose which semesters they spend at which school, as long as total of
five terms are spent at YLS and three are spent at SOM. Additionally, the
four-year JD-MBA is not limited to SOM. Students have the ability to
pursue their MBA at a different university.
In order to compress the rigorous JD-MBA curriculum into three years,
participants lose some flexibility when compared to the four-year
program. Students must begin the program at YLS, where they spend their
first year. In the second year, students spend both semesters at SOM, but
take one class in the spring at YLS. The third year is spent at YLS.
When compared to the four-year program, students lose ability to take one
term's worth of electives at YLS; two when compared to non-joint degree
students.
Students pay regular JD tuition in their first year, a special tuition to SOM
in their second year, and a special tuition to YLS in their third year.
Need-based loans taken during the semesters in which students paid tuition to
SOM are eligible for SOM's
Loan Forgiveness Support. Need-based loans taken during the semesters
in which students paid tuition to the YLS are eligible for COAP.
Applicants interested in the AI JD-MBA must apply to both
YLS and SOM. The applications can either
be submitted simultaneously or YLS students can apply to the program during
their first year of law school. Detailed
application instructions for simultaneous
applicants and YLS 1Ls
can be found on our website.
More information about the three-year AI JD-MBA and four-year JD-MBA programs,
as well as our other joint degrees, can be found on our joint degree page. The AI JD-MBA Program has its own site
hosted by the Yale Law School
Center for the Study of Corporate Law.
In addition to an overview of the program and application instructions,
you can view videos
of professors and alumni talking about the AI JD-MBA and the benefits of pursuing
degrees in law and business.