Transfer Credit

Any applicant wishing to obtain transfer credit will need to complete an evaluation of prior legal education and submit all required materials to the State Bar of California. This form, the Application for Evaluation of Law Study Completed and Contemplated, is found through the official website of the State Bar of California. Along with this form a $100 check or money order made payable to the State Bar of California is required.

Transfer credit will not be granted in a situation where a student would not be able to complete the JD program within 84 months of commencing the study of law at another law school.

The law school may award transfer credit to an applicant, subject to the following limitations:

• The transfer law student must complete a minimum of two complete academic years in ALU’s Juris Doctor degree program and their prior law school credit must be from law schools accredited or registered with the American Bar Association or the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California in common law jurisdictions.

• No transfer credit may be granted unless the requirements of § 6060(h) of the California Business and Professions Code have been met, that is, unless the applicant has passed the First-Year Law Students’ Examination or became exempt while attending an accredited law school. To be exempt from the examination, the student must have successfully completed the first year at the accredited law school and have been advanced to the second year by the same law school.

• A law school is not required to grant, but ordinarily could grant transfer credit for whole courses completed not more than twenty-seven (27) months prior to the date the applicant begins study at the admitting law school. This time limitation does not apply to students who have passed the First-Year Law Students’ Examination. In some instances, such as illness, personal tragedy or military service, it may be appropriate to permit, under exception, transfer credit for studies completed more than twenty-seven (27) months prior to admission, but the dean must approve any exception and an explanation must be added to the student’s file.

• For students who were disqualified for academic reasons at the prior law school, credit should be granted only for courses in which the applicant received a grade above passing. For students who were in good standing at the prior law school, credit may be granted for all passing grades. For all applicants who have passed the First-Year Law Students’ Examination, credit may be allowed in Torts, Contracts, and Criminal Law, even if the grades at the prior law school were not above passing.
• Applicants seeking admission or readmission following disqualification for academic reasons must take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), except for those who have taken the test prior to their disqualification. The applicant must submit an official score report on the test to be retained in the applicant file prior to any law school decision to admit or readmit the applicant.

• ALU School of Law may not grant credit for a course completed at the prior law school in excess of the number of units that ALU School of Law would award for a course with the same number of classroom or participatory hours.

• ALU School of Law must also determine that the subject matter of, and the quality of the applicant’s performance in the courses for which transfer credit is allowed were substantially the same as that for like courses and grades at ALU School of Law.

• Transfer students are responsible for supplying the University with official transcripts of the previous law schools attended.

• Students transferring from other law schools may be interviewed by the admissions committee or Dean to assess their previous performance in their legal studies and potential success.

ALU has not entered into any transfer or articulation agreements with other law schools.