Law school and Barrett partnership to benefit students

08/31/2008

Law school and Barrett partnership to benefit students

 Jillian Tse
 Jillian Tse
     A new collaboration between the College of the Law and Barrett, The Honors College is enabling qualified honors students to use undergraduate scholarships to pay part of law-school tuition. The collaboration allows these students to make a seamless transition to law school.
     Most honors students at ASU receive four-year merit scholarships, but they frequently come to the university with so many college credits earned during high school that they finish their bachelor's degrees in three years. In the past, these students were unable to take full advantage of their scholarships, but now they will be able to use the funding to attend law school and earn undergraduate degrees and law degrees in six years, rather than the usual time, seven years.
      "In essence, they can complete their first year of law school as their last year of scholarship eligibility through Barrett," said Shelli Soto, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at the College of Law.
    Dean Paul Schiff Berman said the College of Law is thrilled to be a partner in the unique initiative.
     "Each year, Barrett brings to campus some of the very top students in the country," Berman said. "We believe they are fully prepared to excel in law school, and we are very pleased to help facilitate their transition into what we are certain will be the upper echelons of law practice."
       American Bar Association rules allow law schools to admit students who don't have bachelor's degrees. However, Soto said, Barrett students interested in attending law school and benefiting from this financial arrangement still must follow the application process, including taking the Law School Admission Test and being admitted to the College.
     "This allows us to better support our students by taking advantage of the scholarship they have been awarded and lowering the cost of their legal education," she said. "This also allows us to assist the university in keeping Arizona's best and brightest in the state for the long term."
     Mark Jacobs, Barrett's Dean, said the new program is ideal for honors students.
     "This allows students to be moving on instead and starting work on their graduate courses, instead of being here their last year," Jacobs said. "They get to go to a place where the faculty is as good as any they would find in law schools across the country and yet stay in state, where the tuition is lower.
     "I don't know of any other university where such a partnership between the honors college and the law school exists."
     The first Barrett student to enroll in the new program is Jillian Tse, an English literature major who started law school in August. Tse will be able to finish her honors thesis, a prerequisite for earning a certificate from Barrett, while attending law school.
     Tse said she is excited to have the opportunity to hone her writing skills while learning about the law. "I was a really good opportunity, and I'm especially excited about the Pro Bono Program and the Clinical Program," she said.
     The College of Law and Barrett have another unique partnership, Project Excellence, which enables honors students to take certain law courses that will challenge them and give them an idea of what law school is like.
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