II. Graduation Requirements

To receive a J.D. degree, students must earn at least 90 credits with an overall grade point average of at least 2.3. Additionally, students must meet the following requirements:

1. Students must earn credit for all required courses, which include
   1. All courses in the required sequence as set forth in Appendix A;
   2. Business Associations is required for students graduating after 2026;
   3. A course satisfying the Upper-Level Research requirement;
   4. A course satisfying the Policy and Perspectives requirement, as explained in part II.C.
2. Students must satisfy the Upper-Level Writing Requirement, as explained in part II.B.
3. Students must satisfy the Experiential Learning requirement (ELR). The ELR consists of four components:
   1. RWA I and RWA II;
   2. Lawyering Skills I and Lawyering Skills II;
   3. An upper-level research course; and
   4. At least three credit hours in a legal clinic, externship, or practicum.
4. Students must satisfy the Bar Preparation Skills requirement, as explained in part II.D.
5. A student who matriculated at the law school after September 1, 2022, must complete at least 12 hours of Professional Development Programs (PDP), including a Resume Preparation PDP and a Class Planning PDP.
6. Students must earn at least 60 hours in courses at this law school. (Revised 5/13/2013)
7. Not more than 25 percent of the credit hours earned in courses at this law school and presented to meet the requirements for the degree may be of grades from 1.7 through 2.2.  (Revised 1/24/2012)
8. Not more than ten of the credit hours presented for graduation shall represent credit for “co-curricular” activities, e.g., Law Review, Independent Study, Moot Court Travel Team, Trial Competition Travel Team, externships, faculty research assistance, or other similar activities designated as co-curricular by the curriculum committee. (Revised: 5/11/09, 5/9/14)
9. Not more than ten of the credit hours presented for graduation may have been earned in courses assessed on a pass/fail (or credit/no credit) basis, except for credit earned in Law Review. (Revised 5/11/2015; 4/11/2016)

Students who begin at this law school must have attended mandatory first-week sessions or applied for and received an exemption from the Associate Dean. (Revised 3/12/18)

1. The purpose of the Upper-Level Writing Requirement is to have each student individually complete at least one rigorous extended piece of legal writing (in addition to those in RWA).  Research, analytical, organizational, and other writing skills are important components in the preparation of any quality product of legal writing. The Upper-Level Writing Requirement requires each student to demonstrate his or her ability to apply each of these skills in producing one substantial, cohesive piece of legal writing prior to graduating from law school. The complete Upper-Level Writing Policy can be found in Appendix B.

1. Each student is required to take at least one course from selections designated by the Law Faculty or the Curriculum Committee which are grounded in jurisprudential, historical, and public policy concepts. Courses are so designated based on subject matter which requires the student to consider factors which govern the development of legal doctrine, rather than simply the application of doctrine in the solution of problems or regulation of the activities of a community governed by principles of law.

1. Students matriculating at the law school after July 1, 2020 who meet any of the following criteria must satisfy the Bar Preparation Skills Requirement to graduate:
   1. Began their degree as full-time students and have a cumulative GPA of 2.8 or lower after two regular semesters (fall and spring), OR
   2. Began their degree as part-time students and have a cumulative GPA of 2.8 or lower after three regular semesters (fall and spring) OR
   3. Transferred to Bowen from another institution and were ranked in the bottom quartile (25%) of their class at their prior institution.
2. Bar Preparation Skills Requirement
   1. Students must enroll in and pass all of the following to graduate.
      1. Writing for the Bar Exam
      2. Advanced Bar Preparation
      3. All bar-tested courses
   2. Bar-tested courses are defined as follows:
      1. For students who graduate in 2026: Sales, Business Associations (BA), and Remedies.
      2. For students who graduate in 2027 or later: First Amendment, Remedies, Sales, and Family Law. (BA is a required course for all students who graduate after 2026.)

(Adopted 5/9/2016. Revised 5/2020, Revised 11/2025)

1. A student must complete the Child Maltreatment Mandatory Reporter training required by Arkansas Code Annotated § 6-61-133 (2007). The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs is responsible for ensuring that the child maltreatment training is provided at the Law School. (Adopted: 4/11/14)

Students shall be eligible for an honors designation based on cumulative grade point average as follows: 

1. Summa Cum Laude – 3.70 and above
2. Magna Cum Laude – 3.50 to 3.6999
3. Cum Laude – 3.30 to 3.4999

(Adopted 10/4/2013)

Students must complete their degree requirements within seven years after first enrolling. (Revised: 9/9/04; 5/11/09)