Journal Participation and OCI Programming

Joint-degree program students are eligible to participate in the Law School Journal Writing Competition as part of the selection process for the Law School journals in the May before their third year in the joint-degree program, and are eligible to participate in the on-campus interview process through the Office of Career Services in the August before their third year in the JD-MALFL program.​

Admission Requirements

Students seeking admission to the joint-degree program must be admitted separately to the Law School and to HCLAS’s MALFL program. All applicants must meet the requirements for full-time admission to the Law School. A check box is included on each school’s application that allows students to indicate their interest in being considered for the joint program.

The Law School application and admission requirements can be found here. The MALFL application and admission requirements can be found here.

Students may apply to the joint-degree program as they apply to, or during their first year in, either program. However, because of the timing of the various law school activities, potential participants are strongly advised that they will have the smoothest student experience if their four years consist, in order, of:

• Year 1: First-year MALFL studies,
• Year 2: First-year Law School studies,
• Year 3: Completion of second-year Law School requirements, plus appropriate electives/requirements in either school,
• Year 4: Completion of remaining program requirements in either school.

See the suggested schedule of courses below for more information.

Advisement of Students

The joint degree program will be administered by its faculty advisors, supported by the personnel designated by each school’s respective Deans to ensure that all school, university, ABA, NY Bar, and similar requirements are met. Prof. Eric M. Freedman serves as the Law School’s faculty adviser, and Prof. Tammy Gales serves as the MALFL’s faculty adviser.

The faculty advisors are responsible for advising students enrolled in the program, formulating educational goals, and establishing criteria for assessing the program’s quality and progress. Students in the joint-degree program will be required to meet with the faculty advisors from both schools each semester before registering for courses.

Because the Law School has its own academic calendar, the end of each semester may overlap between coursework in the MALFL program and final exams at the Law School. The MALFL program has agreed that it will attempt to accommodate any conflicts that might arise due to the calendar mismatch.

Tuition and Financial Aid

Students in the joint program pay tuition as follows:

• When they enroll in the first-year curriculum at the Law School, they pay the flat rate of a full-time law student. Likewise, if they take a year of courses only in HCLAS, students pay the flat rate of a full-time MALFL student.
• After beginning the joint-degree program, students are charged at a per-credit rate by each school, based on the courses they are taking within each school.

For any student who receives a Law School scholarship, the remaining scholarship after the first year is allocated over the remaining Law School credits. If the student takes longer than four years to complete the joint-degree, the scholarship will not apply after the fourth year of the joint program.

The packaging of students’ financial aid will be handled by the Hofstra University Student Financial Services Office.

Program of Study

The MALFL program will award up to 3 credits toward the MALFL degree for Law School courses, with the possibility of awarding an additional 3-6 credits based on the student’s undergraduate experience in Linguistics and their successful completion of a placement exam in particular courses. The Law School will likewise accept up to 9 credits toward the JD degree for courses taken in the MALFL program.

Students must receive at least a B in any MALFL course in order for the credit to transfer for purposes of the JD degree. Likewise, students must receive at least a B in any Law School course in order for the credit to transfer for the purposes of the MALFL degree.

With the approval of the academic advisor, law students in this program may:

• use their MALFL thesis or capstone to satisfy the Law School’s Writing requirement, and
• be granted experiential credit for work on cases in which Dr. Leonard or one of his colleagues is serving as an expert.

In addition, students will be permitted to enroll in summer session courses in both schools, as appropriate.

By maintaining a cumulative average of at least 3.0 throughout Law School and the MALFL, a student will be able to complete the requirements of both degrees within four years. (A student who fails to do this, and therefore must take the additional 9 Law School credits, and the additional 3 MALFL credits, will nonetheless be able to earn both degrees; it will just take five years as it normally would.)

Students must meet all academic requirements of each program in order to earn the joint-degree. Conferral of each degree is contingent on conferral of the other, and the JD and MALFL degrees will not be awarded until all course requirements are satisfied under both programs. Students will not be bar-certified until both degrees have been conferred.

Students in the joint-degree program will be ranked in the Law School as follows: after the 1L year, joint-degree students will be ranked at the Law School with other full-time 1Ls; after the second year in the joint-degree program, students will be ranked with the then current 1Ls; after the third year, students will be ranked with the then current 2Ls; and after the fourth year, students will be ranked with the then current 3Ls.

In any semester in which a student is registered for classes in both the Law School and the HCLAS, the maximum number of credits that may be taken is 17.

Specific Juris Doctor Program Requirements can be found in the Student Handbook here.

Specific MALFL Program Requirements can be found here.

Suggested Schedule of Courses: Full-time 4 Years

Course scheduling subject to change.

• 36 s.h. LING / 87 s.h. LAW = 123 total (with 12 shared credits: 3 s.h. LING / 9 s.h. LAW