J.D. / M.P.P. Degree Program

Application

Apply and be admitted to each program.  (Admission to one program will not affect admission to the other.)

  • Apply to the Law School by March 1.
  • Apply to the William & Mary Public Policy by the Program stated deadline.

If you're initially accepted to both schools, you can start your program at either, but you need to make the choice and inform both schools of your decision by May 15. Do so by contacting each school's Associate Dean or Director of Admissions.

You may also apply for a joint degree after you've become a law student. If you're accepted into the other program, then contact the Law School's Associate Dean of Administration and the other program's Director of Admission by May 15.

Contact us

Plan of Study
  • Start at either program – during the first year of each, you’ll only take courses in that program.  You must complete the first year of one before you move to the other program.
  • You’ll take a combination of law and public policy courses in your final two years.
  • If a course is cross-listed law/public policy, you must declare to which program the credits will belong at the time you register in the course.  Under no circumstance may you move the course from law to public policy or public policy to law after the exam period for the term you are taking the course begins.
  • If the course is not cross-listed please declare to the Law School registrar upon registration to which degree the course will belong.
  • Regardless of where you are taking classes, you'll always retain the rights of a student at each school.
Degree Requirements
  • Earn 75 law credits.
    • You may not apply non-law credit hours to your law degree.
    • 65 of your credits for graduation must be in William & Mary Law School courses graded by a letter grade (ie, A, B, C).
  • Complete the first- and second-year Law School course requirements.
  • Earn a minimum cumulative law GPA of 2.5 at the end of the first term of legal study. A student who has not achieved a 2.5 cumulative GPA at the end of the first year of legal study will be dismissed for academic deficiency.
    • To be able to continue in residence at the Law School as a 2L or 3L, a student must maintain a term and cumulative grade point average of 2.3.
  • Comply with all M.P.P. requirements.
    • 36 Policy hours
    • All other degree requirements
    • Earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0
    • The total credit requirement for the J.D./M.P.P. degree is 111 credits
Tuition and Fees
  • Pay tuition and fees at the Law School rate for two years (four semesters).
  • Pay tuition and fees at the Public Policy rate for one year (two semesters) – typically the first two semesters of MPP study.
Financial Assistance
  • If you’re eligible, you can be considered for available scholarship funds at either school.
  • If you’re eligible, you can receive up to five semesters of Law School-administered aid. 
  • If you receive Law School scholarship funds or aid, they are not available during the two semesters you’re paying tuition to Public Policy.
  • Educational loan applications are processed by the Office of Student Financial Aid for William & Mary.