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For students interested in both the business and legal professions, Mississippi College offers a joint Juris doctor and master of business administration degree. Holding both a J.D. and an M.B.A. gives an edge to prospective attorneys whose career plans include work with corporations and partnerships, corporate financing, or transactional work. In addition to enhanced business knowledge and skills, an M.B.A. provides enhanced credibility in the competitive business world.

Earning a J.D. typically requires three years of study; earning an M.B.A. typically requires two years. Because some course credits apply toward both the J.D. and the M.B.A., it’s possible to earn both degrees in three years rather than in five.

Earning the Joint Degree

Students must be separately admitted to both the J.D. and M.B.A. programs. Candidates for the joint degree must successfully complete all of the requirements for both the J.D. and M.B.A. degrees, but six of the 90 semester hours of work required for the J.D. degree may be satisfied by the following classes offered through the Mississippi College School of Business:

  • Accounting Policies (ACC 6501)
  • Policy Formulation and Administration (MGT 6572)

Nine of the 30 semester hours of coursework required for the M.B.A. degree may be satisfied by law school coursework. The Law & Ethics in the Business Environment class (three credit hours) will be satisfied by completing six hours of any of the following law classes:

  • Contracts I and II
  • Property I and II
  • Ethics and Professionalism

 The two electives (three credit hours each) in the M.B.A. curriculum may be satisfied by completing six hours of any of the following law classes:

  • Agency
  • Antitrust
  • Banking
  • Business Associations I
  • Business Associations II
  • Business Planning
  • Commercial Paper
  • Corporate and Partnership Taxation
  • Debtor-Creditor Law
  • Employment Law
  • Estate and Gift Taxation
  • Federal Taxation
  • Insurance
  • International Business Transactions
  • Labor Law
  • Pension and Employee Benefit Law
  • Real Estate Finance and Development
  • Real Estate Transactions
  •  Sales and Leasing
  • Secured Transactions
  • Securities Regulation

Students must earn a C or better in all classes for which dual credit may be given. Law school credit for business school classes will not be finally awarded unless and until completion of the joint degree program. 

The business school and law school have each assigned a faculty member to serve as advisor to students in the joint degree program regarding course sequencing. Students pursuing the joint degree may sequence the law and business classes in almost any way, except that students may not take business school classes during the first year of law school. Otherwise, a student may take both law and business classes in the same semester, or take all course work during a given semester in one program or the other. This flexibility in sequencing permits M.B.A. students to enter the joint degree program at any time, and law students to enter at any time after the first year of law school. 

Students must complete the coursework necessary for the law degree within five years. The J.D. degree requires a minimum of five semesters in residence (four for transfer students) at the law school. Residency credit for purposes of the J.D. degree will be awarded proportionately for semesters in which a student takes both J.D. and M.B.A. courses. 

For more information, please contact M.B.A./J.D. Advisor Dr. Kevin Pauli at 601.925.7734 or pauli@mc.edu.

The Graduate Program in Business Administration builds on a core of undergraduate courses normally taught in schools of business. All of the M.B.A. prerequisites can be obtained from our night class schedule.

GENERAL FOUNDATION COURSES  HOURS
ACC 201 Principles of Accounting 3
FIN 341 Business Finance 3
DAT 251 Business Statistics 3
MIS 099 Spreadsheet Proficiency Exam 0
Total Hours   9

Students must be separately admitted to both programs. Students will be required to take the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) as a condition to admission to the law school program and may be required to take the GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) as a condition of admission to the M.B.A. program. The School of Business may accept the LSAT in lieu of the GMAT when the LSAT scores satisfy the standard for admission to the School of Business.

Mississippi College’s School of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the premier business school accreditation in the world.