Graduation Requirements
Credits for Graduation
UNC School of Law requires 86 credits for graduation. Detailed information for enrolled students appears on My Carolina Law at https://my.law.unc.edu/documents/academics/advising.
Mandatory Enrollment for 2Ls in Professional Responsibility
All rising 2Ls must enroll in Professional Responsibility and complete the course during the 2L year (which includes the summer immediately after completion of 1L courses).
Four Credits of Rigorous Writing Experience (RWE)
Upper-level students are required to take 4 credits in courses designated by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs as Rigorous Writing Experiences (RWEs). RWE courses offer 1, 2, or 3 credits (but not 4.) A course may have both the RWE and Experiential designations. However, a course’s credits can satisfy only one or the other requirement, not both. (The credits may not be divided.)
Six Credits of Upper-Level Experiential Credits
Upper-level students are required to take 6 credits in courses designated by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs as Experiential. Experiential courses include simulations, externships, and clinics. A course may have both the RWE and Experiential designations. However, a course’s credits can satisfy only one or the other requirement, not both. (The credits may not be divided.)
Maximum and Minimum Times for Graduation
The ABA prohibits completion of the Juris Doctor degree in less than 24 months. Law School policy requires students to complete the J.D. within 60 months after the student commenced the study of law (except in extraordinary circumstances as determined by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, though no longer than the ABA limit).
Required Grade Point Average
To continue in law school, a cumulative GPA of 2.2 is required after the first year. Students must maintain a 2.25 GPA to continue after the second year and to graduate.
Graduation Participation
Students are expected to complete and pass all course work toward the J.D. degree in order to participate in spring commencement exercises. Dual-degree students must complete the requirements for both degrees in order to participate. A student who lacks only three to six hours of law credits who is registered for summer school and has applied for and is eligible to take a July bar examination may be allowed to participate in commencement with the approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. A student who completes his or her law degree requirements in December may participate in either the campus-wide December commencement or the following May commencement.
Honors
The law school awards honors designations to students who graduate with high grade point averages. Honors designations are not made until all of the spring grades have been turned in, so students who graduate with honors receive a diploma so noted near the end of the summer.
- Highest Honors = any student achieving a 4.0 or higher.
- High Honors = the top 10 percent of the class.
- Honors = the top one-third of the class.
An August or December graduate will be awarded honors, high honors or highest honors if the graduate’s GPA was equal to or higher than that of the lowest students awarded honors, high honors or highest honors who graduated the previous May.
Order of the Coif
The top 10 percent of the graduating class is eligible for election by the faculty into the Order of the Coif, the national legal honorary scholastic society. Only students who have completed at least 75 percent of their law studies in graded courses are eligible for consideration. The Order of the Coif defines “graded courses” as those for which academic accomplishment is recorded on the basis of educational measurement involving four or more discriminators. Because UNC accepts transfer credits but not grades, it is unlikely a transfer student can meet the 75 percent rule and qualify for Order of the Coif.