JD Transfer

Why Choose University of Arizona Law?

Students transfer for various reasons. Your current school may not have been your first choice. Your interests or circumstances may have changed, or you may find that you want a school that more closely fits your interests, goals or personality. Often students face these questions in the spring, as 1Ls look back on their first-year experience.

Each fall semester University of Arizona Law welcomes a select group of highly qualified transfer admits. Requirements for transfer are simple and status is identical to that of returning 1Ls.

Consider some of the many factors that elevate us as a transfer standout—and email our Admission department when you’re ready to learn more.

JD Transfer and Visitor Admissions Requirements

You may apply to transfer to Arizona Law or to study as a visitor after your first year of law studies. 

• Completed application and domicile affidavit

  • Via the LSAC Credential Assembly Service (CAS). Note that disclosure of your social security number is voluntary per privacy law.
  • Arizona Law does not have an application fee for transfer candidates. 

• Statement of Interest 

  • The Statement of Interest should indicate you are interested in applying to Arizona Law as a transfer student. 

• Resume 

  • A resume is one of the best ways to describe the range of your work and volunteer experiences, skills, and interests

• Official law school transcript with past and current grades and rank

  • This transcript must come from your law school directly to LSAC or to the James E. Rogers College of Law. It must contain the full year of grades at your law school. 

• LSAC Law School Report

  • The official CAS Report must come directly from Credential Assembly Service housed with the Law School Admission Council. Certified copies from law schools are not acceptable. We will request the CAS report after receipt of your application. 

• Two letters of recommendation from law faculty you’ve studied under

  • Please contact Admissions via email, if you have questions about acceptable forms of recommendation.

• Letter from your current law school confirming good standing

  • A Letter of Standing must be provided from the dean or designate of the law school you are attending stating your eligibility to continue studies at that institution. If class rank is not available on your Official Law School Transcript, this letter should also provide your class rank. The letter must come directly from the degree granting law school to the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. 

• For visitors, the dean’s letter should also state permission to enroll at Arizona Law and list any conditions limiting units acceptable to your home institution.

Transfer of Credit Earned at Another Institution

A limited number of transfer and visiting students may be admitted to the College.

• A student who has completed the first year of law study at a law school that is approved by the American Bar Association may be considered for transfer.
• Applications for transfer and visiting status will be judged on the basis of the College admission standards and other criteria developed by the Admissions Office in consultation with the Admissions Committee.
• A transfer student qualifies as a degree candidate and is eligible to receive a degree from the College upon successful completion of the graduation requirements.
• A student that is disqualified from attending, on probation at, or who has failed to maintain at least a "C" average for all law work attempted at another law school may not transfer to the Law College.
• A third year student may not be considered for transfer, but may apply as a visiting student.
• A visiting student is not a degree candidate and may only take course work at the College that will apply towards a degree at another law college.

Units taken from ABA-approved schools will be awarded credit for transfer into Arizona Law only in the amount that is awarded for the same course at Arizona Law.

• Further, credit is awarded only for courses in which the student received a grade of C, or better.
• In addition to the required first-year courses, all transfer students must take Evidence, Professional Responsibility, the Writing Requirement and the Experiential Education Requirement.
  • First-year courses not previously taken, must be taken the first time they are offered after the student begins to matriculate at Arizona Law.
  • 88 units are required for graduation, 37 of those units must be in graded, post-first year courses.
  • Units transferred-in are deemed Pass/Fail units and do not count towards the graded unit requirement.    

Individuals admitted through the Advanced Admissions program

• may receive up to a total of 29 units of “advanced standing” credits for prior non-U.S. law study, allowing them to complete their JD degree in as little as four (4) semesters.
• Candidates admitted through the Advanced Admissions Program are not required to graduate in four (4) semesters and may attend additional semesters; typically, candidates attend for four (4) to six (6) semesters.
• The determination of how many advanced standing credits will be awarded to a student admitted through the Advanced Admissions Program will be made by the Associate Dean for Programs and Innovation, or the Dean’s designee, in consultation with the Dean of Students.

Credit for units earned in a law school outside the United States

• will be granted if the College of Law would have granted credit towards satisfaction of J.D. degree requirements if earned at the University of Arizona.
• In making this determination, a student wishing to receive transfer credit must provide the Associate Dean for Programs and Innovation, or the Dean’s designee, a course description from the other university or syllabus from the professor of each of the courses the student wishes to be considered.
  • The description or syllabus must be provided in English.
  • The student must also provide information regarding how units are calculated at the other university so that the number of units can be calculated to meet ABA Standard 310.