Transfer of Credit Hours from an ABA-approved or State-Accredited Law School

General Rule for Granting Credit

The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will grant credit to an applicant accepted for transfer toward the J.D. degree of this law school for courses taken at an ABA-approved or state-accredited law school in which the student received a grade in the particular course that meets or exceeds the level for good standing at the student’s former academic institution. Academic Rule IV(I)(3). Credit can be given as well for classes for which the student received “credit” if the class was graded on a credit/no credit basis.  The amount of transfer credit granted for any such course will not exceed the semester credit (or equivalent) earned at the school where the course was taken. Admissions Committee Rules II(e).

Maximum Credit Granted

Students must take a minimum of 60 hours at the UA Little Rock Bowen School of Law in order to qualify to graduate from Bowen. Academic Rule II(A)(3). Therefore, because Bowen requires 90 hours to graduate, transfer credit from another law school cannot exceed 30 hours. However, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs may determine that a transfer student meets a requirement for graduation based on the student’s previous study, although the student may not receive credit for that required course, because additional credits would place that student’s total transfer credits beyond the 30 hour maximum transfer credits permitted under the Academic Rules.

Exceptions

The Associate Dean may deny or reduce transfer credit in the following circumstances:

  1. Transfer credit may denied for courses in subjects not comparable to courses offered at this school and not considered to be of substantial value as preparation for entry into the legal profession in common law jurisdictions (Admissions Committee Rules II(e)(1);
  2. Transfer credit granted for any course taken at another law school may be limited to such number of semester hours as are granted for a comparable course offered at this law school, or in the case of a course not comparable to any course offered at this school, to such number of semester hours as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs deems appropriate (Admissions Committee Rules II(e)(2)); and
  3. Transfer credit will ordinarily be denied for credit earned more than three years prior to the date of admission to this school (Admissions Committee Rules II(e)(5)).