Law School Credit for Course Work

A. Add/Drop/Withdrawal Date.

First-year students may not drop or add courses from their assigned schedules. Upper-level students may drop or add courses without penalty up to the end of the drop/add period designated in the Law School calendar. Following this date, upper-level students may withdraw from a course without penalty up to the end of the withdrawal period designated in the USC Master Schedule of Classes. A grade of W will be recorded on a student’s transcript, but the grade will not affect a student’s grade point average. Upper-level students withdrawing after the “withdraw without penalty” date will receive a grade of WF. A WF is treated as an F in calculating a student’s grade point average.

Note: No student may drop or add a course after the drop/add period without first contacting The Office of Law Registrar and Academic Services. No student will be permitted to drop or withdraw from courses that would result in the student taking less than 12 hours without the written approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

B. Auditing.

Law Students may audit courses subject to enrollment limitations and the professor’s approval. Students who wish to audit a course are given the lowest priority in enrollment. Law students may audit non-law courses if University audit procedures are satisfied. If a course is audited, it may not be subsequently taken for credit.

C. Class Attendance.

Students are expected to prepare all assigned work and attend all classes. A professor may substantially reduce a student’s grade in the course due to absenteeism. A student who is absent from a class for more than ten percent of the recitation periods may not take the examination or obtain a grade other than F unless the attendance requirement is waived by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. A violation of the Attendance Policy means you must petition for an attendance waiver.

Students must keep track of their own attendance. Failure to accurately record and report all absences may be considered a violation of the honor code. Although faculty may excuse absences for class purposes, faculty may not excuse absences for purposes of determining whether a student has violated the Attendance Rule.

The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs can waive the Attendance Rule if a student has not missed more than 30 percent of the classes in a course. In exercising this discretion to waive the rule, the Associate Dean will consider the total number of absences and whether a substantial majority of these absences are for reasons set forth in §VI.G.2.

NOTE: Students’ class schedules must enable them to attend all regularly scheduled classes in all their courses. Therefore, students may not register for courses with time conflicts.

Below are attendance guidelines for common course offerings:

A student violates the Attendance Policy by missing 4 classes in a 6-credit-hour course that meets two times a week.
A student violates the Attendance Policy by missing 4 classes in a 5-credit-hour course that meets two times a week.
A student violates the Attendance Policy by missing 6 classes in a 4-credit-hour course that meets four times a week.
A student violates the Attendance Policy by missing 5 classes in a 4-credit-hour course that meets three times a week.
A student violates the Attendance Policy by missing 6 classes in a 3-credit-hour course that meets four times a week.
A student violates the Attendance Policy by missing 5 classes in a 3-credit-hour course that meets three times a week.
A student violates the Attendance Policy by missing 4 classes in a 3-credit-hour course that meets two times a week.
A student violates the Attendance Policy by missing 2 classes in a 3-credit-hour course that meets one time a week.
A student violates the Attendance Policy by missing 4 classes in a 2-credit-hour course that meets two times a week.
A student violates the Attendance Policy by missing 2 classes in a 2-credit-hour course that meets one time a week.
A student violates the Attendance Policy by missing 1 class in a 2-credit-hour course that meets one time every other week.
A student violates the Attendance Policy by missing 1 class in a 1-credit-hour Winter-session course.

D. Completion of Course Work at Another ABA/AALS Approved Law School.

With the approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, students may complete course work at another ABA/AALS-approved law school (for example, by attending such school for the student's sixth semester) and transferring the credit towards the granting of a Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law. Petitions for such credit are granted only where:

There is good cause;
The proposed coursework is substantially equivalent to coursework at this Law School; and
The student will satisfy requirements concerning the minimum number of hours in residence needed for the J.D. degree by successfully completing at least 60 credit hours in law courses at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law. The 60 required hours shall not include coursework in independent research and co-curricular activities such as law review, journals, moot court, mock trials or any other trial competitions.

Students must take courses at another law school on a graded basis if the course is offered on that basis. Grades in these courses will be recorded on a student’s University of South Carolina transcript as earned credits. Only grades of C or better will be recorded as a earned credits. Grades of C or better will be recorded on the student's transcript as anearned credits, and any grade below a C will not be included. “Incomplete” (or its equivalent) will be recorded as an F if the work is not completed within three months of the end of classes for the session involved. Courses taken at another law school affect the number of credit hours a student may earn on a Pass/Fail basis at the Law School. (See § IV.H.1).

A student may not enroll in any distance education course prior to having completed 28 credit hours toward the Juris Doctor. degree. The law school shall not grant a student more than six credit hours of distance education courses in any term, nor more than a total of 12 credit hours toward the Juris Doctor degree for courses qualifying as distance education. A student may not enroll in more than one experiential distance education course per term. A student may not enroll concurrently in more than one non-experiential distance education course, except during the seven-week summer session.

Students are required to complete the request-to-visit forms available in the Office of the Law Registrar/Academic Services and have the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs sign the forms. Students are also required to have an official transcript sent from the visiting school to the Office of the Law Registrar/Academic Services by the required date that students must discuss and confirm with the Office of the Law Registrar/Academic Services.

E. Co-curricular Activities.

No credit is allowed for any co-curricular activity except as follows:

Journals.

Students may obtain two or three credits on a pass/fail basis for serving in a position on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Law and Education; the South Carolina Law Review; the ABA Real Property, Probate and Trust Journal; or the South Carolina Journal of International Law and Business.

To be eligible to receive three credits, an editorial board member must have worked at least 127.5 hours for the journal, excluding time spent researching and writing a note for the journal and time spent participating in a write-on competition. To be eligible to receive two credits, an editorial board member must have worked at least 85 hours for the journal, excluding time spent researching and writing a note for the journal and time spent participating in a write-on competition.
No credit may be given without the approval of a faculty advisor or the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
In awarding credit, the faculty advisor or the Associate Dean may rely on a certification from the Editor in Chief that a Board member has substantially fulfilled the duties of his/her position and worked the required number of hours. NOTE: not all editorial board positions receive academic credit.
To obtain credit for being on the editorial board, a student must complete a form available in the Office of the Law Registrar/Academic Services.

Supervised Extracurricular Competition.

Students participating as active team members in extracurricular competitions (for example, moot court, trial competition, client counseling competition, negotiation competition, etc.) may receive two or three credits on a pass/fail basis as follows:

To be eligible to receive three credits, an active team member must have worked at least 127.5 hours, cumulatively, in the course of one or more competitions, excluding tryout competitions. To be eligible to receive two credits, an active team member must have worked at least 85 hours, cumulatively, in the course of one or more competitions, excluding tryout competitions.
The program must be supervised or advised by a faculty member and approved for credit by the curriculum committee or the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
The student must make a substantial intellectual contribution to the activity. Alternates may receive credit if they make substantially the same contribution to the team as that made by the primary members of the team. Administrators or "managers" of the programs who do not participate in the intellectual exercises required by the program are not eligible for credit. However, an administrator or manager can receive credit if he/she qualifies for credit under paragraph (D) below.
The student must complete a written exercise in connection with the activity, which will be evaluated by the faculty supervisor or advisor. In many cases this will be a requirement of the competition. When there is no such requirement, students may receive credit if they reduce their learning to a written form which is evaluated by the faculty supervisor or adviser. This may take the form of a brief, trial memorandum, file memorandum, or other document relating to what they learned in the preparation for the competition. If the rules of the competition limit the involvement of faculty supervisors or advisers, evaluation and criticism of the written product may be postponed until the competition is complete.
To obtain credit for supervised extracurricular competition, a student must complete a form available in the Office of the Law Registrar/Academic Services.

F. Credit Hour Policy.

The Law School faculty, upon the recommendation of the Curriculum Committee, establishes the number of credit hours for each course. All course proposals beginning academic year 2016-17, must include a justification for the number of credit hours to be awarded (including out-of-class student work).
In accordance with ABA Standard 310 (b):

A “credit hour” is an amount of work that reasonably approximates: (1) not less than one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and two hours of out-of-class student work per week for fifteen weeks, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time; or (2) at least an equivalent amount of work as required in subparagraph (1) of this definition for other academic activities as established by the institution, including simulation, field placement, clinical, co-curricular, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.

For each course, the course instructor must determine that adequate work has been assigned such that a student would be expected to spend a minimum of 30 hours a semester per credit hour outside of the classroom in preparation for the course. The hours include time spent preparing for and taking exams.
To document the basis for this determination, the course instructor must include in the course syllabus an adequate description of the work to be assigned.
Students enrolled in clinics or externships must submit written documentation for time spent on course-related work to their supervising faculty member at regular intervals, to be determined by their supervising faculty member. Faculty will determine the number of hours required for each unit of credit; at a minimum, students must complete 42.5 hours for one credit; 85 hours for two credits, and 127.5 hours for three credits.
Students enrolled in a “supervised legal research” course and other non-regularly scheduled classes must complete a minimum of 42.5 hours for one credit, 85 hours for two credits, and 127.5 hours for three credits.
For Law Journals and Co-Curricular activities, such as mock trial and moot court, the Editor in Chief or similar position, is responsible for verifying to the faculty advisor that each student to be awarded two credits has completed 85 hours of work and that each student to be awarded three credits has completed 127.5 hours of work. These hours may include time spent creating written materials other than law journal notes and time spent practicing for and performing in competitions other than journal write-on competitions or tryout competitions for mock trial or moot court.
The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs is responsible for interpreting this Policy to ensure consistency and compliance with ABA Accreditation standards and conducting a review of course syllabi every three years to ensure compliance with this credit hour policy. At the Associate Dean’s request, the Curriculum Committee will further review a number of course syllabi to ensure compliance.

G. Employment While Enrolled as a "Full Time Student."

Because of the rigorous nature of the Law School curriculum and the requirements of law school accrediting agencies, law students are required to be “full time” students. Students should not be employed during the first year of law school.

Excessive employment during the second and third year is inadvisable; if undertaken, upper-class students should not exceed fifteen hours of outside employment per week and must not exceed twenty hours per week. Employment will not be considered a mitigating factor in the event of academic difficulties.

H. Pass/Fail Grading.

Maximum Number of Credit Hours.
1. A student may receive a maximum of six hours of credit on a pass/fail basis for course or non-course work in the Law School. Students may receive pass/fail credit for approved coursework done outside the Law School at either other ABA-accredited law schools or departments at USC other than the Law School.
2. Credits received for the Introduction to the Legal Profession course and for a student's first externship course will count toward the credit-hour requirement for graduation, but those pass/fail credits will not reduce the student's pass/fail allowance of six credits.
3. Graduate-level courses at the University approved by the Law School count toward the maximum number of pass/fail credit hours a student may take (See § IV.L).
4. Law courses completed at another ABA-accredited institution approved by the Law School count toward the maximum number of pass/fail credit hours a student may take (See§ IV.D).
5. Pass/fail hours taken beyond the maximum number of pass/fail credit hours, other than hours spent taking Introduction to the Legal Profession and the first externship course, will not count toward meeting graduation requirements unless the student obtains written approval from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
6. Combination-degree students are limited to four hours of pass/fail credit within the Law School.

Standard for Earning an S in a Course Taken on a Pass/Fail Basis

For all course work taken on a pass/fail basis, whether in the Law School or outside the Law School, a student must do C quality work to earn an S. A grade below C is recorded as an U.

Upper-Level Law School Courses in Which Law Students May Earn Pass/Fail Credit

The only upper-level Law School courses in which candidates for the Juris Doctor degree may earn pass/fail credits are those courses offered exclusively on a pass/fail basis.

Students may take Supervised Legal Research on a pass/fail basis with the approval of the instructor prior to the University withdraw/fail period. Instructor approval must be noted on the Supervised Legal Research form or submitted to the Law Registrar’s Office in writing.

Other Upper-Level Law School Credit Awarded on a Pass/Fail Basis

Credit for serving on the editorial board of the South Carolina Law Review, the ABA Real Property Probate and Trust Journal and the South Carolina International Law and Business Journal is awarded on a pass/fail basis. In addition, credit for supervised extracurricular competitions, such as moot court and mock trial, are awarded on a pass/fail basis.

Non-Law School Courses

Credits earned by J.D. candidates for coursework done in other departments of the University of South Carolina or at other ABA-approved law schools are recorded on a as earned credit if a grade of C or better is recorded. A student will not receive course credit if a grade below c is reported.

I. Summer School.

Eligibility; Graduation During the Summer.

The Law School offers a Maymester and one seven-week summer session. No student may enroll for summer school who is not eligible to return in the following fall semester.

Students are expected to graduate in May or December in their third year. In extraordinary circumstances, the Law School may permit a student to graduate in August. Any student intending to complete the requirements for graduation by attending summer school should contact the Office of the Law Registrar/Academic Services prior to registering for summer school.

Accelerated Graduation by Attending Two Summer Sessions.

Normally, students will obtain residence credit for the fall and spring semesters of each of their three years of law school and graduate in May of their third year. Students may elect, however, to accelerate their graduation by one semester (graduating in December of their third year rather than May) by attending two summer sessions. These two summer sessions taken together will qualify for one semester of residency if the following requirements are met:

The student must enroll in two summer sessions and enroll in a minimum of six credit hours during each summer session. The student must satisfactorily complete at least 12 credit hours in the two sessions.

Credit hours earned during Maymester may count toward the residency requirement. However, to receive residency credit, a student must complete at least one course during each of the two seven-week summer sessions.

Credit for Summer School Courses Taken at Other Law Schools.

With the approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, students may receive credit for courses taken at another ABA/AALS-approved law school or taken at a summer program sponsored by an ABA/AALS-approved law school. Such approval is contingent upon satisfactory completion of the approved courses. The student must take the course for a letter grade if the course is offered on this basis. Grades of C or better will be recorded on the student's transcript as earned credit, and any grade below a C will be not be included. “Incomplete” (or its equivalent) will be recorded as an F if the work is not completed within three months of the end of classes for the session involved. Limitations on the number of pass/fail hours apply to summer courses taken at other law schools. (See §IV.H).

Students are required to complete the request-to-visit forms available in the Office of the Law Registrar/Academic Services and have the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs sign the forms prior to applying to the other law school. Students are also required to have an official transcript sent from the visiting school to the Office of the Law Registrar/Academic Services by the required date that students must discuss and confirm with the Law Registrar/Director of Academic Services.

J. Supervised Legal Research.

Second- and third-year students may, with the advance permission and supervision of a faculty member, receive up to two credit hours for researching and writing a significant paper in a field of law of particular interest. Students interested in pursuing a research project should contact a professor who teaches in the area. Once a topic is agreed upon, the student must complete and submit the SLR form available in the Office of the Law Registrar/Academic Services to enroll in the course. There are two types of SLR courses: SLR I is a two-credit-hour course that fulfills the graduation writing requirement. SLR II is a one-or two-credit-hour course that will not fulfill the writing requirement.

Students may receive a maximum of two credit hours of Supervised Legal Research credit on the same project and may not enroll in more than one Supervised Legal Research course per semester. Students may not receive more than four total credit hours for all Supervised Legal Research courses. Students may not use or submit the work performed in such an approved project for other academic credit.

To meet the requirements for Supervised Legal Research, the following page requirements must be met:

A minimum of 30-50 pages for a student taking Supervised Legal Research I for the graduation writing requirement.
A minimum of 10 pages for a student taking Supervised Legal Research II for one credit hour.
A minimum of 20 pages for a student taking Supervised Legal Research II for two credit hours.

K. Transfer Students.

After receiving an acceptance letter from the Office of Admissions, students are required to meet with the Registrar/Director of Academic Services to review the transfer of hours, grade point average, graduation requirements, and the registration process. The following policies regarding transfer students are discussed during the meeting:

1. The grades earned at the student's previous school in courses accepted for transfer credit will be included in calculating the transfer student's cumulative grade point average.

2. No more than 30 earned hours may be applied toward the 90 hours required for graduation.

3. During the first year a transfer student is enrolled at the Law School, the student will not be awarded a class rank. Upon the completion of two full semesters at the Law School, a transfer student will be awarded a class rank based on all law school grades earned at both the Law School and the student's previous school.

4. In accordance with § IV.D.3, transfer students must satisfy requirements concerning the minimum number of hours in residence needed for the J.D. degree by successfully completing at least 60 credit hours in the Law School. The 60 required hours shall not include coursework in a Supervised Legal Research course or co-curricular activities such as law review, journals, moot court, mock trials or any other trial competitions.

L. University Courses outside the Law School.

First-year students are not permitted to take courses outside the Law School under any circumstances. With prior permission of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, second- and third-year students may take, for Law School credit, up to two courses or six hours of credit in another department of the University. Only graduate (500 level and up) courses that are related to the student’s legal education are acceptable. Grades in these courses shall be recorded as earned credits; any grade below C will not be included in earned hours. These courses affect the maximum number of pass/fail hours that can be counted toward the J.D. (see §IV.H).

Second- and third-year students may also enroll in courses in other departments of the University that are not taken for Law School credit without restrictions on the type of course. These courses cannot be used to satisfy the academic residency requirement. Note that a student may not enroll in more than 16 credit hours without approval from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (See § III.B).

A form for taking courses outside the Law School is available in the Office of the Law Registrar/Academic Services. This form must be completed and submitted to the Office of Law Registrar.

M. Combination-Degree Programs.

The Law School offers the following combination degree programs:

Accelerated Master of Business Administration
International Master of Business Administration
Master of Accountancy
Master of Arts in Economics
Master of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Master of Earth and Environment Resource Management (MEERM)
Master of Health Administration
Master of Human Resources
Master of Mass Communication
Master of Public Administration
Master of Social Work

Combination Degrees with other Departments at the University of South Carolina.

Students admitted to a combination-degree program must complete the law school’s dual degree application, which is available in the Office of the Law Registrar/Academic Services, room 128.
Once officially recognized as a combination degree, students may apply nine graduate credit hours from the other program toward the student's J.D. degree. Similarly, students may apply six to 12 hours (depending on the program) of Law School credit toward the other graduate degree. The hours transfer as pass/fail credit.
Even if admitted to more than one combination degree program, a student may not apply more than a total of nine graduate credit hours toward the J.D. degree.
Courses completed prior to being admitted to the Law School will not count toward a combination degree.
Unless a waiver is obtained, non-law program coursework must be completed simultaneously with, or prior to, Law School graduation.
If a course is offered both at the Law School and in the graduate program, e.g., Administrative Law, the graduate school version may not be transferred in for Law School credit. In other words, these courses must be taken at the Law School. Students should obtain permission from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs before taking the same titled course at the Law School and in the graduate program.
Other than mentioned above, any graduate-level course in the combined program may be transferred for the nine Law School credit hours.
Combination-degree students must also comply with the 12 hour residency requirement when applying the 9 hours of graduate work (see §III.F).
Tuition and fee payment for combination degree programs vary based on an established memo of understanding between the Law School and the graduate program.
Students enrolling in a combination degree program must meet with the Office of the Law Registrar and Academic Services to obtain additional information on graduation requirements and tuition/fee payment.

N. Children’s Law Concentration Program.

Students enrolled in the J.D. program can earn a concentration in an area of law that benefits children and families. These areas include family law, juvenile justice, education law, and child protection and welfare. Students who complete the designated Children’s Law Concentration curriculum will receive a certificate of concentration. The concentration will be noted on the student's law school transcript and the student will receive a certificate recognizing the achievement. To receive a Children’s Law Concentration a student must:

Complete an “Intent to Seek Children’s Law Concentration” form and submit it to the Director of Externships and Special Academic Programs.
Complete at least four courses from the established Children’s Law Concentration curriculum.
Complete the law school graduation writing requirement either through one of the designated Children’s Law Concentration writing courses or an approved Supervised Legal Research paper.
Complete an approved experiential course in Children’s Law.
Attend the required Children’s Law Concentration speaker series presentations. Participating students must attend a minimum of two presentations during their second year and two presentations during their third year. A student who applies for the Children’s Law Concentration in their third year must attend all four presentations during their last year.

2024-2025 Academic Bulletin