Professional Licensure by Program

The degree program listed in the chart below may lead to a professional license. Professional licensure requirements vary from state to state, which may affect a student’s ability to apply for a professional license after completing the program. U.S. Department of Education regulation  requires an institution to disclose whether each degree program will fulfill educational requirements for licensure in each state. The table below lists all U.S. states and jurisdictions, including the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories, and is current as of June 2025.

As an ABA-accredited school, �������� prepares students who earn a J.D. to take the bar examination in any U.S. jurisdiction. For states listed as “meets requirements” in the table below, a J.D. from �������� entitles graduates to apply to sit for the bar examination, subject to individual state requirements for character and fitness, state-specific requirements, and distance-education limitations. In jurisdictions listed as “does not meet requirements,” the jurisdiction may permit a student or graduate to petition to waive certain requirements. The column “may not meet requirements” signals that the state may have requirements that could impact some, but not all, students in the associated degree program; please review the footnotes for specific information.

In addition to a bar examination, each jurisdiction requires applicants to complete a character-and-fitness process and meet other qualifications. Before beginning a J.D. program, we recommend that students and prospective students contact the appropriate bar admission agency in the jurisdiction where they plan to sit for the bar examination or intend to work to seek the most up-to-date information about state licensure and certification requirements. The National Conference of Bar Examiners, in collaboration with the American Bar Association, annually publishes a  that provides information, including a directory of state bar admissions agencies, about bar admission requirements in all U.S. jurisdictions.
 

¹ As of June 2025, of the Rules Governing Admission to the Alabama State Bar requires an applicant to have completed a course of legal studies as a “resident student.” The Alabama State Bar Admissions Director has informed Southwestern that “resident student” means a student who has attended law school completely in person, versus all or part of it online.

² As of June 2025, students should be aware that if they take “distance education courses” before completing 28 credit hours in the J.D. program, they may be ineligible to sit for the New York bar examination. Rules of the New York Court of Appeals for the Admission of Attorneys and Counselors at Law, . In addition, the New York Bar has a cap for distance education credit hours. 

³ See note 1.

⁴ See note 2.

⁵ As of June 2025, Alabama requires that an applicant must have “completed . . . a course of law studies that extended for at least 3 academic years of at least 30 weeks each[.]” 

⁶ As of June 2025, New Hampshire requires that a “full-time law school” have a “three year course[.]” Rules of the Supreme Court of the State of New Hampshire, 

⁷ As of June 2025, although  (Rule 2) say that it “requires for graduation 3 school years of study for full-time students,” the Michigan Board of Law Examiners office, in September 2023, informed Southwestern that as long as the school and program are ABA accredited, as Southwestern and SCALE are, then the “3 school years of study for full-time students” requirement is satisfied.

⁸ See note 2. 

⁹ See note 1.

¹⁰ See note 2.