The University of Pennsylvania Law School is minutes away from some of the world’s greatest professional and graduate schools. Law students may take courses at Penn towards the completion of a Certificate of Study or Joint-Degree, or simply take courses at one of more of our graduate sister schools that would complement the student’s legal educational and career goals.
Guidelines
Penn’s Law School allows JD students to receive law school credit for up to four (4) pre-approved classes (12 semester hours) at a graduate school at Penn; LLM/LLCM students may receive credit for one (1) pre-approved class (3 semester hours).*
All non-law courses must be pre-approved and are subject to the following criteria:
- Course must be relevant to your legal education and career goals.
- Course must be of sufficient academic rigor to meet the exacting standards of law school education at Penn.
- Course must be graduate level (normally 500 level or higher). The Law School does not grant credit for introductory language study (“beginner” or “elementary” classes), but will consider petitions for intermediate or advance language courses.
- Course must not be duplicative or significantly similar to a course offered at the Law School.**
- You MUST submit an Application for Law School Credit (see below) for each and every non-law course you take (unless it is towards a joint degree program).
PLEASE NOTE: Courses taken outside of the Law School will not count toward the calculation of graduation honors (see also Grading Policies, below).
*Students taking more than 12 semester hours of non-law courses while they matriculate will be charged a course overload fee of 10% of full-time tuition per CU (3 law school semester hours) and the additional credits will NOT count toward graduation.
**Examples of non-law courses that will not be approved because they are duplicative of Law School courses include, but are not limited to: Negotiations (GAFL610, LGST806, MGMT691) and Corporate Finance (FNCE611).
Students interested in taking a course outside of the Law School for credit must submit an Application for Law Credit for Non-Law Courses. Students accepted into formal Joint Degree programs do not need to complete the form when enrolling in non-law courses required for their non-law degree if they have already submitted the Joint Degree Confirmation Form to the Registrar’s Office; candidates for Certificate and ad hoc joint programs do need to complete the approval form.
Please note that approval means only that the Law School will grant credit for your coursework outside of the Law School should you satisfactorily complete the course. It does not ensure that you will actually be enrolled in the course. Enrollment is determined by the University department controlling the course and is subject to availability. Failure to submit the form by the end of the add/drop period results in a tuition charge posted soon after add/drop concludes.
Each school has its own rules and procedures for you to follow to ensure successful enrollment. For example, to register for courses at Wharton, (Spring enrollment in Q3 and Full Semester classes), students must submit an instructor-approved Registration Authorization Request for Non-MBA Student on or before January 28, 2021. See link in the gray box below for more information on Wharton Registration.
For other schools/programs, the department will typically require that you be in touch with them directly to register you in the course. In most cases, the school will enter a “permit” which you must claim on Penn InTouch. If add/drop is over and you no longer have access to Penn InTouch, please be in touch with the Law School Registrar’s Office (reg@law.upenn.edu) and request that we claim the permit. This will complete your enrollment in the course. If you do not take this last step, you will not be registered.
Prior to the last day of Law School Add/Drop, students at the Law School enrolling in any non-law courses (not towards a joint degree) must review guidelines and fill out an Application for Law School Credit for a Non-Law Course here.
To review the course offerings across the University and school based registration procedures, see below:
University Courses
At this link, you will find a list of University of Pennsylvania courses by department and room assignments (classrooms are posted closer to the start of the semester).
Course Units/Semester Hours
The University uses a “course unit” system, while the Law School uses a semester hour system. The translation is that 1 course unit (c.u.) = 3 Law School semester hours. If you are enrolled in a course outside of the Law School and it is showing as 1 c.u., for example, the credits will convert to 3 Law School semester hours once your grade for the course posts. Some non-law courses are .5 c.u. and meet for only half of the semester.
Wharton Courses
General Information:
The Wharton School welcomes students to Wharton MBA-level elective courses. These courses can add a valuable dimension to your education and your voices contribute to the Wharton classroom. If you are interested in taking Wharton classes, you should take the following steps:
- Review the 2020-21 Wharton MBA Academic Calendar
- Review course descriptions and prerequisites using the MBA Resource Guide
- **Instructor approval must be obtained for admittance to all MBA courses (see below).**
- Follow Wharton registration process outlined below.
- Prior to the last day of Law School Add/Drop, students must fill out an Application for Law School Credit for each and every Wharton class in which they enroll. The form can be found here.
Wharton Registration for Law Students - Spring 2021:
- Wednesday, January 20th: First day of Spring Semester for Wharton (it is recommended that students at the Law School start attending classes to ensure that they do not fall behind if they are able to register for the class). Check above Wharton MBA Academic Calendar for notes regarding class schedule for this first week. You may also begin submitting your Registration Authorization Request for Non-MBA Student forms. PLEASE note that the Law School’s classes also start on January 20th this semester.
- Thursday, January 28th: Deadline to submit Registration Authorization Request for Non-MBA Student forms for enrollment in Q3 and Full Semester. All Law Students interested in taking Wharton Classes must drop off an instructor-approved Authorization Request for Non-MBA Student form by end of day on Thursday, January 28th in the MBA Program Office at Suite 300 JMHH (Jon M. Huntsman Hall) or via email at mbaprogram@wharton.upenn.edu. Requests for enrollment will not be processed without the form signed by the course instructor. Students need to be aware that approval by the instructor does not guarantee a seat in the course (it simply guarantees that the student is academically eligible to take the course); enrollment is based solely on space availability. The signed form merely allows a student to be enrolled IF space is available after Wharton students have finalized their course enrollments. Wharton may need to correspond with you regarding your registration status. Make sure to legibly write your email address and Penn ID with the Request Form.
- Friday, January 29th: Forms are randomly processed by Wharton on January 29th. Students should attempt to register for the course for which they submitted a form on Penn In Touch at **2pm on January 29, 2021.** THIS DATE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE (if it changes, Wharton will be in touch via email). Assuming no change, your registration was successful if Wharton was granted you a “permit” for admittance to this class. If you receive a permit, it must be “claimed” within 12 hours; Wharton permits for Non-MBA students expire after 12 hours.
- Instructor Approval: Wharton instructor approval must be obtained for admittance to all MBA classes (via the Authorization Form discussed above).
- Important Note Regarding Time Conflict: You must resolve all time conflicts prior to January 29th. If there is a time conflict, Wharton will not be able to issue the permit and will not reserve your seat in the class.
- Law School Credit for Non-Law Class: There are strict guidelines for receiving Law School credit for any non-law class. Prior to the last day of Law School add/drop, all Law Students enrolling in Wharton courses must review guidelines and fill out an Application for Law School Credit for a Non-Law Course here or they may get charged for the class and/or not receive Law School credit.
Questions: Contact the MBA Program Office
- email: mbaprogram@wharton.upenn.edu
- phone: 215-898-9744
PLEASE NOTE: Law Students interested in taking non-law classes at any sister school/program must check that school’s timetable to confirm when classes start. Classes will likely begin on a different date (often earlier) than classes at the Law School.
If you have questions/concerns about registering in non-law courses after reviewing the program/school website, please contact: Amanda Aronoff, Director of Cross-Disciplinary Programs & Academic Options at aronoff@law.upenn.edu or Sherita Ragins, Coordinator for Cross-Disciplinary Programs at sragins@law.upenn.edu.
Students in courses taken outside of the Law School are guided by the rules, policies, procedures, and grade scale of the other department, except that disciplinary infractions are heard by the Law School’s Committee on Student Conduct and Responsibility.
Pass/Fail: If the class is 1 credit unit (or 3 Law School credit hours), the student must elect to take the class pass/fail before October 15th for the Fall Term or February 15th for the Spring Term. If the class is .5 credit units (or 1.5 Law School credit hours), the student must elect to take the class pass/fail before the end of the drop/add period, the first-two weeks of class each term.