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Doctor of Juridical Science
The J.S.D. degree program at New York University School of Law provides intense training in academic research to those intending to pursue a career in academia. The program prepares students to produce first-class scholarship and to secure teaching positions in the U.S. and around the world. The commitment to this mission makes NYU School of Law one of the best points of entry into legal academia worldwide.
The candidates' independent research and writing is supervised and guided by distinguished members of NYU Faculty of Law. In addition, the frequent need for an interdisciplinary approach to legal research leads our students to use the resources of other faculties at NYU (such as Tisch School of the Arts, the Graduate School of Arts and Science, and Stern School of Business). The articles and dissertations produced in the J.S.D. program are typically published in the most prominent law reviews, professional journals, and notable publishing houses, and the program facilitates and inspires the creation of a dynamic intellectual community of scholars.
NYU School of Law has moved away from the concept of the self-funded J.S.D student. All students admitted to the J.S.D. program receive a waiver of tuition and fees and a stipend of $20,000 per year for three years, conditional upon satisfactory academic progress (admission to candidacy, completion of coursework, and presentation and participation in the J.S.D. Forum). The Committee may also admit a limited number of students who have been awarded independent funding from a public organization or an academic or government institution. These students' funding must be available for a minimum of three years in the amount of at least of $20,000 per year. Students who receive funding from a third party will not be eligible for the NYU stipend but will receive a waiver of tuition and fees.
Qualifications for the J.S.D. degree include the successful completion of separate stages of study and writing. Successful completion of any stage in the process does not assure satisfactory completion of subsequent stages. After admission to J.S.D. candidacy, each candidate is required to submit a dissertation, which can take the form of a unified work or, in exceptional cases, a set of three articles, and to pass an oral defense of the dissertation. The degree must be completed in five years. For more information regarding the J.S.D. program, please visit the Office of Graduate Affairs Web site.