Legal Studies (BS)

The University offers a bachelor of science (BS) in legal studies.

The Legal Studies Program offers a specific curriculum for students planning to attend law school or pursue other law-related careers. This curriculum has been developed based on recommendations by the Pre-Law Committee of the American Bar Association's section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar.

This interdisciplinary program is at the same time structured and flexible. Students work in consultation with an advisor to tailor the program to fit their particular needs.

The program emphasizes both the learning of substantive knowledge about the law and the development of important skills (oral and written communication, reading comprehension, logical and analytical thinking, and competence in conducting legal research) designed to prepare students for the LSAT—and to do well in law school.

Coursework includes study in constitutional law and judicial processes, a legal research course, and a culminating experience, during which students complete a major research project.

The department offers opportunities to participate in internships and study abroad—and also offers practice LSAT sessions each fall to help students going on to law school improve their performance on this test.

Other opportunities include:

• As freshmen, students have the opportunity to be part of a student-centered learning community for political science and legal studies students. Throughout their college careers, students attend small- to medium-sized classes taught by full-time, award-winning faculty members.
• Legal Studies students may also join faculty in trips to Washington, D.C. to view oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court.
• The Legal Studies program supports an annual visit by the Indiana Court of Appeals to ISU. The Court hears oral arguments on campus. Students may join Appeals Court judges in lunch after the hearing.
• Students have many faculty-directed research opportunities on subject matters such as media and the law, gender and decision-making, women judges, and judicial selection.
• In addition to the many active politically and socially conscious groups, clubs, and programs at ISU, the Political Science Department supports the American Democracy Project (ADP), a multi-campus initiative that seeks to engage students in democratic life. Students in both the Political Science program and the Legal Studies program are active participants in ADP programming. Through events, programming, field trips, and institutional-level engagement such as developing and implementing the Campus Vote Plan, ADP students are at the center of electoral and democratic engagement on our campus. ADP’s work has been recognized nationally including landing on Washington Monthly’s “Best Colleges for Student Voting” and receiving NASPA and Campus Vote Project’s “Voter Friendly Campus” distinction. Events sponsored by ISU’s ADP include voter registration drives, invited speakers, campus marches, presidential debate parties, State of the Union Tweet-Ups, hosting local candidate forums, and many more functions.
• Advisement for the pre-law program is also located within the Legal Studies program. Pre-law students need not be either Legal Studies or Political Science students, although many of our students have gone on to law school after receiving their undergraduate degrees from our department. Pre-law students may be of any major, located within any department across the university.