JD/MBA Joint Degree Programs
South Texas College of Law Houston has partnered with two area business schools – the Cameron Business School at the University of St. Thomas and the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University – College Station – to offer dual-degree programs leading to the conferral of both the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree and the Master of Business Administration degree. Both dual-degree programs allow students to earn both degrees in four years rather than the five years it ordinarily would take to earn both degrees independently. The JD/MBA joint degree program is intended for students for whom having training as both a lawyer and a business manager would be advantageous.
Students may choose to apply to either or both business schools after they have been admitted to the law school. Typically, students apply in the late fall or early spring of the academic year before they plan to conduct their business school study. They begin their studies in the J.D. program at South Texas College of Law Houston. Normally they complete their first 60 hours of J.D. course work and then take a leave of absence from the law school and enroll in the MBA program to which they have been admitted. Upon concluding their MBA studies, students return to the law school to complete their final 30 hours of J.D. course work. Each business school sets its own admission requirements, deadlines for application, and tuition costs.
Admission Requirements
Admission to the University of St. Thomas Cameron School of Business Graduate Programs (MBA) requires that students meet the following criteria:
- Students may apply to the University of St. Thomas only after admission to South Texas College of Law Houston.
- Students must possess a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in any field of study.
- Admission is based on a combination of Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score and undergraduate grade point average (GPA).
- Students must complete sixty (60) credit hours earned at South Texas College of Law Houston before taking core MBA courses at UST.
Application Procedure
Students applying to the St. Thomas JD/MBA joint program must submit the following materials to St. Thomas:
- Online Application
- Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work
- Official transcript from South Texas College of Law Houston
- Official LSAT score
- Current resume
- 3 letters of recommendation from professional or academic sources
Course of Study
YEAR ONE
Full-time J.D. study totaling 30 credit hours as required by the law school’s applicable academic regulations.
YEAR TWO
Full-time J.D. study totaling 30 credit hours as required by the law school’s applicable academic regulations, including Professional Responsibility.
YEAR THREE
Full-time MBA study at the University of St. Thomas totaling 24 credit hours with South Texas College Professional Responsibility course to fulfill the University of St. Thomas ethics requirement. See courses listed below.
YEAR FOUR
Full-time J.D. study totaling 30 hours as required by the law school’s applicable academic regulations.
Recommended Sequence for Students with BBA degrees
(24 total hours; Proficiency Courses may be waived.)
First Semester at UST: 12 core hours
- ACCT 5313: Managerial Accounting
- MBA 5318: Financial Management
- MBA 5320: Marketing Management Theory
- MBA 5357: Management Information Systems
Second Semester at UST: 12 core hours
- MBA 5315: Operations Management & Supply Chain
- MBA 5311: Managerial Economics
- MBA 5322: Organizational Behavior
- MBA 5370: Applied Strategic Management
Recommended Sequence for Students with Non-Business Degrees
(24-37.5 hours total, including 1.5 to 13.5 hours of Proficiency Courses.)
Summer after 1L Year
Up to 6 hours of Proficiency Courses
Summer after 2L Year
Up to 7.5 hours of Proficiency Courses
First Full-time Semester at UST
12 core hours and up to 3 hours of Proficiency Courses
Second Full-time Semester at UST
12 core hours
Selected proficiency courses will be waived in accord with students’ undergraduate curriculum.
Students pursuing a joint JD/MBA are allowed to take 15 credit hours in their first semester. MBA 5370 must be taken in the last 12 hours of coursework.
Proficiency Courses
- ACCT 5311: Fundamentals of Financial Accounting (3 credit hours)
- MBA 5X03: Fundamentals of Business Statistics (3 credit hours)
- MBA 5X04: Fundamentals of Finance (1.5 credit hours)
- MBA 5X05: Fundamentals of Microeconomics (1.5 credit hours)
- MBA 5X06: Fundamentals of Macroeconomics (1.5 credit hours)
- MBA 5X07: Fundamentals of Management (1.5 credit hours)
- MBA 5X08: Fundamentals of Marketing (1.5 credit hours)
- MBA 5X09: Legal Environment of Business (1.5 credit hours)
Application Deadlines
Fall Semester: July 1
Spring Semester: December 1
Summer Semester: April 15
A South Texas College of Law Houston student may participate in the Texas A&M University Mays Business School’s fulltime MBA program as a cooperative student. Cooperative students join the MBA program after their first year in the J.D. program, so students who have completed their J.D. are not eligible for admission in the MBA program as a cooperative student.
Admission Requirements
Students may apply to the MBA program only after enrolling in the J.D. program at South Texas College of Law Houston. Students must be in good academic and conduct standing to be considered by the MBA program.
Application Process
Students applying to the Mays Business School cooperative MBA program must submit the following materials:
- Current Resume
- Unofficial Transcripts
- Essays
- GMAT or GRE Score
Program Description
The Mays Full-Time MBA program is a lockstep, cohort-based program, with a significant portion of the work completed in academic teams. The program is a full-time program with courses meeting Monday through Friday for 15-20 weeks per semester. The MBA program consists of 49 semester credit hours, and a cooperative student must complete all credit hours. Credits cannot be transferred from another institution or program to satisfy the course requirements in the Mays MBA program.
A cooperative student in the MBA program can complete all coursework in 12 months, rather than the typical 18 months. Students must be available for fulltime coursework in College Station from early July of the year they are admitted through the end of the following July. Cooperative students’ schedules are identical to traditional students in the fall semester. They take an additional elective in the spring semester and complete a capstone project and a leadership course in the summer. Students would graduate from the MBA program in August and then return to the J.D. program. Once students have completed the degree requirements for the MBA program, they will graduate with the MBA degree, independent of their completion of the J.D., but with the understanding, they will reenter the J.D. program.
