MC Law School and University of Louisiana Monroe Ink Agreement

Interim MC Law Dean Patricia Bennett

Mississippi College Law School in Jackson sits 122 miles from the University of Louisiana Monroe. It takes motorists on I-20 nearly two hours to make the road trip from one school to the other.

The distance between the two Southern institutions across state lines just got a little shorter. A new agreement effective in January 2018 enables MC Law students to earn a JD as well as a master’s in public administration.

MC Law reached agreements in past years with other institutions, including Tougaloo College in Jackson and Troy University in Alabama.

MC Interim Law Dean Patricia Bennett sees advantages for students at campuses in Mississippi and Louisiana. Students will earn both a JD and MPA degree to give them stronger credentials as they pursue careers in law or public administration.

Flexibility in scheduling classes is another plus. After completing the first year of law school, students can take MPA classes in the program that’s only offered online.

Bennett notes that students can complete their dual degrees in a shorter period of time. Up to six credit hours from the MPA program count towards the JD degree at MC Law. Up to twelve credits from the JD program can be applied to the master’s in public administration.

Five ULM grads are expected to attend MC Law School this year. Informal ties existed between the two schools for years.

“Many former ULM students have attended MC Law,” Bennett said. “We look forward to broadening our relationship with ULM to create greater job opportunities for all of our graduates.”

Bennett commended MC Law administrators Philip McIntosh and Jonathan Will for ironing out the details to make the agreement possible.

ULM enrolls 9,038 students, including 1,108 from outside Louisiana. ULM is home to Louisiana’s only state funded pharmacy school. In athletics, ULM War Hawk teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference.

MC Choctaws teams play in the Birmingham-based Gulf South Conference. America’s second oldest Baptist college, 191-year-old Mississippi College enrolls 5,133 students. The total includes about 430 MC Law students.