Graduation Requirements

Graduation Information

For Friends and Family

The School of Law's graduation ceremony (called Convocation) will take place at 2:00 pm on Friday, May 9, 2008, at the UDC Auditorium, Building 46, 4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. (Parking garage entrance on Van Ness Street or Metro Red Line to Van Ness/UDC; see campus map). The Convocation keynote speaker will be Judge Arthur Hunter of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. The Ceremony should last approximately 2 hours and will be followed by a reception.

The University graduation ceremony (called Commencement) will take place at at 10:00 am on Saturday, May 10, 2008, at the Verizon Center, 601 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C. (Metro and parking information). Students should arrive between 8:00 am and 8:45 am and enter through the "press door" on 6th street. Guests should arrive around 8:45 am and enter through the F and G street entrances. No tickets are required. The ceremony should last approximately 3 hours. Please note, the Verizon Center does not allow balloons.

Graduation Requirements

May 2008 graduates must return the Request for Graduation Form (.pdf) to the Registrar's Office no later than 12:00 noon on April 28, 2008.

Each candidate for the Juris Doctor degree must satisfy the following requirements:

Attain satisfactory completion of a minimum of 90 credit hours consisting of not less than 1260 class hours and 90 weeks of residence credit;
Earn credit in each of the required core courses: Civil Procedure (I,II), Constitutional Law (I, II), Contracts (I, II), Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Lawyering Process (I, II), Professional Responsibility (legal ethics), Property, Torts, and Law and Justice;
Earn credit in at least two (2) semesters of seven (7) credit client-service clinical courses;
Achieve a cumulative grade point average (C. G. P. A.) of 2.0 or higher;
Achieve satisfactory completion of the two-part legal writing requirement; and
Achieve satisfactory completion of 40 hours of community service.

These standards are explained more fully in the Student Handbook of Academic Regulations and Requirements.

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