The Pros and Cons of a Joint Degree

When it comes to joint degrees, let’s start at the beginning. In legal studies, a joint degree program is a program that offers students the opportunity to work toward their JD and a degree in some other field at the same time, usually in less time than it would take to earn the two degrees separately. This could mean a JD/MBA, a JD/MSW, or even a JD/LLM.

Most universities have pre-established joint degree programs at the graduate and professional levels, but others will allow students to negotiate “JD/(subject of choice)” joint study with any graduate or professional degree offered by the university as long as the student is qualified for both.

A joint degree can be a great choice if you want to distinguish yourself in a particular legal specialty or for opening doors to non-traditional legal positions. For example, a JD/MSW can provide a great background for anything from family to health law, but it can also allow for a smooth transition to a career in government, human services, or non-profit leadership. And a JD/LLM, of course, cuts down on the time one might have to spend specializing if they have a strong sense of an area of law they want to work in.

On the surface, this joint degree business sounds like a good idea – how could some extra specialization hurt? There is no doubt that a joint degree can save you some time (and in legal profession, time matters!), but it doesn’t save you any money (and money also matters…).

It is also important to not use the law degree to simply boost your competitiveness in another field. For starters, not everyone agrees that it boosts your competitiveness in the first place. In the story “Is the Versatility of a Law Degree Just a Myth” on lawjobs.com, individuals with joint degrees found that some employers are not only not impressed, but are convinced that the applicants are unfocused or confused. Conversely, applicants are sometimes viewed as overqualified and are priced out of nontraditional positions. Many individuals are left asking whether the law school price tag (and, consequently, the burden of law school debt) was worth it.

All is not gloom and doom for the joint-degree hopeful, however. After all, can you be an effective corporate lawyer without an MBA (or at least some business experience)? And if you want to practice law, purely and simply, a legal degree with some extra somethin’ somethin’ might not be a bad idea.

You’re just going to want to be sure. Really sure.

And on that note, are you sure about pursuing a joint legal degree? Are you not so sure? Leave a comment and let us know what Carnegie Mellon students are thinking!