Three-year JD/MBA Program
If you have significant work experience and seek a business career where an understanding of legal issues would be beneficial, consider the Three-year JD/MBA Program. For a career in either business or law, consider the four-year program.
This demanding, accelerated program is one of the very few three-year joint JD/MBA programs available in the United States. In three years instead of the usual four, you can earn two degrees from two top-ranked programs rejoining the working world faster than if you pursued both degrees separately.
Application materials and additional information | |
MBA Program Kelley School of Business | Maurer School of Law |
As an applicant to the Three-year JD/MBA Program, you must apply and be admitted separately by the Kelley School and the Law School, meeting the minimum requirements for admission to each program, including competitive LSAT and GMAT or GRE scores. You must have at least two years of significant work experience, and demonstrate a high degree of motivation to take on this aggressive three-year schedule. You must inform both schools that you intend to pursue the Three-year JD/MBA Program when you apply.
JD/MBA students are charged a per-credit-hour rate. You must also pay a program fee for each term enrolled, including summer terms. Additionally, the Kelley School’s one-week Washington Campus Program requires a separate course fee.
Loans and financial aid awards will be coordinated by the schools; candidates offered admission will be automatically considered for merit-based awards offered by each school. The criteria for the award of financial aid are the same as for all other graduate students. Please contact Timothy Smith, Associate Director of MBA Financial Aid, at smithtim@indiana.edu or 1-800-994-9622 with questions or Paul E. Leopold in the Law School at pleopold@indiana.edu or (812) 855-4765.
Neither the Law School nor the Kelley School requires specific undergraduate majors or undergraduate coursework as prerequisites for admission. The three-year JD/MBA program requires two years of work experience for consideration.
Admission criteria for each school can be found at:
You must apply to each school separately. On each application, or through an application addendum, you should indicate that you wish to be considered for the Three-year JD/MBA Program. It is possible for applicants to be admitted to one school and not the other. Applicants admitted to both schools could also potentially be considered for the Four-year JD/MBA Program rather than the three-year program.
Simply apply to the other school, and inform both schools that you wish to be considered for the Three-year Program.
You must pay each school’s application fee. The Law School will waive the application fee in certain circumstances, including financial need. To seek a fee waiver, call the Law School Admissions Office at (812) 855-4765 and ask for a fee waiver application.
You must take both the LSAT and GMAT or GRE. Test dates and registration information for each are available at their respective websites:
The Law School offers admission on a rolling basis—submitting an earlier application is always better. The MBA Program offers multiple deadlines, including January 15, March 1, and April 15. If you are interested in the Three-year Program, we recommend submitting your application to each school by March 1. Applications received after April 15 can only be considered for admission to either program individually or for participation in the Four-year JD/MBA Program.
Both schools consider diversity factors when making admission decisions, per Indiana University policy. The factors include, but are not limited to economic, educational, racial, or cultural factors.
Both schools require that you have a laptop computer. The Kelley School requirements are much more specific and meet the requirements of the Law School—you should follow the Kelley School’s specifications, which will be provided to you as an incoming student. The Bloomington campus has total wireless coverage.
For this, and other information, visit the Indiana University Graduate and Professional Student Organization.
Contact the respective admissions offices to schedule a visit and to:
- Sit in on classes
- Speak to students
- Tour our facilities
- Have an interview
MBA Admissions: Plan a visit online or call (812) 855-8006 or 1-800-994-8622.
Law Admissions: Contact (812) 855-4765 or lawadmis@indiana.edu
The Law and Business Schools are within walking distance of one another.
Common Questions
No, because of the condensed timeframe, three-year students must begin in the summer with specified courses at both schools. While you will begin your three-year JD/MBA experience taking summer courses from both the School of Business and the Law School, your first full academic year (fall and spring semesters) must be spent in the Law School.
The Four-year JD/MBA Program remains available to participants in the Three-year Program if you, for any reason, find the Three-year Program no longer meets your needs. You can move from the Three- to the Four-year Program, but you cannot move from the Four- to the Three-year Program once you have begun your studies.
Because the Three-year Program is such an intensive, full-time program, it cannot be successfully completed if you have other major time commitments.
Given the demands of the program, Three-year JD/MBA students are not be eligible for graduate assistantships at the Kelley School. It may be possible to obtain part-time work as a research assistant at the Law School, but it’s not recommended given the academic rigor of the program.
Common Curriculum Questions
Three-year JD/MBA students can participate in a law journal or moot court program, schedule permitting, but participation in the Three-year Program may limit the positions you will be able to hold.
By planning far in advance, you can participate in a semester or summer abroad program even within the challenging requirements of the Three-year Program, but it will limit your ability to take other elective courses.
You will be able to take courses typically covered on the bar exam, but the exact courses you are able to take, will depend on each semester’s class schedule.
JD/MBA students have the option of pursuing a standard MBA major, but are encouraged to design their own major to provide greater flexibility in course selection. You can choose to concentrate on coursework in various tracks including entrepreneurship, corporate governance, and investment banking, however this is not required.
Yes—MBA Academies are a required part of the MBA curriculum. Since the JD/MBA has limited elective coursework, Academy participation provides invaluable specialized business experience and knowledge.
The Entrepreneurship Law Clinic is the only business-oriented clinic offered by the two schools, giving students the opportunity to work on actual business formation, including planning and strategy issues, in a multidisciplinary setting—this is a unique opportunity, but not required.
The Kelley School offers online diagnostics and preparatory “Jump Start” courses, designed to prepare incoming students for the rigors of the Kelley MBA Program. For more information, contact the Kelley Admissions Office at 1-800-994-8622, (812) 855-8006, or iumba@indiana.edu. Incoming students may want to take an accounting course, business statistics course, and become comfortable with Excel’s advanced functions.
Gain experience during a law clerkship and business internship
Time to complete a summer law clerkship is built into the Three-year curriculum during Summer Semester II. Time to participate in a business internship is built into the curriculum during Summer Semester III. Students are responsible for securing their own internships.
Pursue a job in both business and law
You will have a full law and business degree upon graduation. However, to practice law you will also need to take and pass the bar examination of the state in which you plan to practice law.
Job search assistance
- Kelley School of Business Graduate Career Services
- Maurer School of Law Office of Career and Professional Development
These sites also provide statistics on salary, employment rates, and geographic distribution.
Required: 121 total credit hours—79 in law and 42 in business.
Law
The first-year law curriculum is the same as for all JD students, but Three-year JD/MBA students must enroll in the Law School in the summer start program and complete Legal Professions, a required legal ethics course, during the first year.
Business
In business, 28.5 of your 32 credit hours are required courses—for the remaining 13.5 credit hours, you can develop a specialization through electives. You can pursue an MBA major, but your elective MBA coursework options will be limited. We encourage a major you design with the MBA program for greater flexibility, concentrating on coursework in various tracks including entrepreneurship, corporate governance, or investment banking. No law course credits count toward the MBA portion of the joint degree.
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