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Syracuse second school to offer hybrid online J.D.

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Syracuse University College of Law is partnering with 2U Inc. to develop a hybrid juris doctor degree program that will combine online with on campus instruction.

Pending New York State and American Bar Association approval, the program would be just the second of its kind available to law students. Syracuse anticipates classes beginning January 2018, with applications starting in the spring of 2017. 

Mitchell|Hamline School of Law was the first ABA-approved law school to offer a hybrid JD degree. The four-year program was first offered in 2015, and includes intensive in-person experiential learning and online coursework that allows students to study anywhere in the world.

Similarly, Syracuse University’s new hybrid J.D. program will feature live, face-to-face online classes and dynamic course content delivered through a platform by Landover, Maryland-based 2U, which partners with universities to offer online degree programs equal to traditional programs.

Craig Boise, who was just named the new dean of the College of Law earlier this month, stressed the importance of innovation in both the legal field and legal education during a recent speech.

“I want Syracuse law to be known for expanding legal education into new areas as a laboratory for new teaching methods, as an incubator for new legal education programs,” Boise said during a recent speech, as reported by SU’s independent student news organization, The Daily Orange. 

Law faculty will create coursework using 2U’s Bidirectional Learning Tool, which empowers law professors to teach online using a variety of teaching approaches including the Socratic method, and offers students the chance to learn and receive feedback from classmates and professors in real time.

The Syracuse Law hybrid program will also feature traditional in-person learning experiences, including on-campus courses, and applied learning experiences like externships.

“This partnership will enable the College of Law to reach talented students nationwide and allow us to grant unprecedented access to Syracuse Law’s outstanding legal education,” said Kent Syverud, chancellor and president of Syracuse University, who was formerly dean at Washington University School of Law and Vanderbilt University Law School.

Students should be able to complete the program in just over three years, said Nina A. Kohn, the David M. Levy Professor of Law and associate dean for Research at Syracuse. The size of the program has not yet been determined, but tuition will be the same as that for the College of Law’s residential program.

“However, the ‘opportunity cost’ of attending the hybrid program may be lower for many students as they will be able to continue to work while enrolled the program, and will not have to move and potentially uproot their families to attend,” Kohn said. 

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