The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School is minutes away from some of the world’s greatest professional and graduate schools. Law students may take courses at Penn toward 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 Carey 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 5000 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 (GAFL6100, LGST8060, MGMT6910) and Corporate Finance (FNCE6110).
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. See specific link to Wharton Courses 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 Path@Penn. If add/drop is over and you no longer have access to Path@Penn, 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.
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 a non-law course must review guidelines and fill out an Application for Law School Credit for a Non-Law Course or they may get charged for the class and/or not receive Law School credit. This form can be found here.
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.
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.
Wharton Registration for Law Students -
Review the 2023-24 Wharton MBA Academic Calendar
- Requests for seats in MBA courses should be directed to the respective academic departments at Wharton. Please do not contact the faculty as it will be the department coordinators who will be responsible for evaluating the requests and issuing any permissions to non-MBA students via Path@Penn.*** See more information about the process here: https://mba-inside.wharton.upenn.edu/course-registration-for-non-mba-students/
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 or they may get charged for the class and/or not receive Law School credit. This form can be found here.
Contact the MBA Program Office
- email: mbaprogram@wharton.upenn.edu
- phone: 215-898-9744
Course Units/Semester Hours
Please note that the University (including Wharton) 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 Wharton class and it is showing as 1 cu, 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 CU and meet for only half of the semester.