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The University of Massachusetts School of Law at UMass Dartmouth and Salem State University established an agreement that streamlines degree attainment for students to earn their bachelor’s and law degrees.
The 3+3 agreement allows pre-law students to spend three years at Salem State working towards their bachelor’s degree. Students then transfer to UMass Law in their fourth year, taking law courses that satisfy requirements toward a bachelor’s degree at Salem State while beginning their legal education.
“It is critical that, as Massachusetts’ only public law school, we collaborate with public universities to create affordable legal education opportunities,” said UMass Law Dean Eric Mitnick. “By partnering with Salem State, we are giving the talented students of the North Shore the ability to improve their communities and academic careers through a future in the legal profession.”
“Salem State students are often driven by a commitment to social justice to make a difference in their communities both during college and after graduation,” said Salem State University Provost and Academic Vice President David J. Silva. “This partnership will create a path for students to affect societal change through entering the legal profession, and to do so in a way that is efficient and relatively affordable. I am very pleased with the doors that this new collaboration will open for our students.”
Salem State University is the eleventh institution to collaborate on a 3+3 with UMass Law. Others include Assumption College, Becker College, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, UMass Lowell, Westfield State University, and Worcester State University.
Three years after accreditation, UMass Law’s pass rate was 92.6 percent for first-time test takers on the July 2018 Massachusetts Bar Exam. UMass Law finished behind only Harvard University and Boston University among the nine law schools in Massachusetts. UMass Law’s focus on public and community good has resulted in more than 120,000 hours of pro bono legal services since 2010.