Latest evolution of online/on-campus curriculum starts in fall 2020
Mitchell Hamline School of Law announced Sept. 5 it will take the next step as the nation’s leader in online and on-campus legal education with the launch next fall of a new blended-learning enrollment option.
The new offering integrates elements of Mitchell Hamline’s pioneering Hybrid J.D. program and its Executive and Weekend J.D. options into a single partly online, partly on-campus option.
Through blended learning, students will have an unmatched opportunity to customize their legal educations in terms of format, content, and pace, and all graduates will be eligible to sit for the bar exam in all 50 states.
Blended Learning at Mitchell Hamline“Through blended learning, we offer students an experiential legal education that allows them to tailor their J.D. to fit their interests and personal circumstances,” said Professor Gregory Duhl, faculty director for blended learning at Mitchell Hamline. “And it’s asynchronous, meaning students complete their online studies on a schedule that’s convenient for them.”
Mitchell Hamline’s Hybrid J.D. program was launched in January 2015. It was the nation’s first hybrid on-campus/online program at an ABA-approved law school. Two years later, the school extended its online/on-campus format to Executive and Weekend J.D. options.
The new blended-learning option, which will enroll its first students in the fall of 2020, retains the best elements of the Hybrid, Executive, and Weekend offerings. Among the key features:
- A part-time, four-year program that can be finished in three years or fewer
- Substantial on-campus time, including a case-study workshop in which students learn firsthand from lawyers and participants in actual cases
- An asynchronous structure that allows students to complete the online portion of their studies entirely on their own schedule
- A flexible design that allows students to customize their schedules and content, including the opportunity to take fully online, fully in-person, evening, and weekend courses in the final two years
- Expanded summer course offerings
Blended learning’s flexibility allows Mitchell Hamline to draw students from around the country and the world. More than 150 students have graduated from the school’s hybrid online/on-campus J.D. program so far, and our alums are practicing around the country.
In addition to blended learning, Mitchell Hamline will continue to enroll new students in three on-campus J.D. tracks: full-time, part-time evening, and part-time day.