Degree Requirements

To confirm that you are on track to complete the number of hours needed for graduation, you may audit your coursework using the online Degree Audit.

• Law 421, 521, 480H or 580H, Contracts
• Law 423, 523, 480J or 580J, Criminal Law I
• Law 427, 527, 480V or 580V, Torts
• Law 431, 531, 480U or 580U, Property
• Law 332R or 380S, Legal Analysis and Communication
• Law 232S or 280T, Persuasive Writing and Advocacy
• Law 433, 533, 480F or 580F, Civil Procedure
• Law 434, 534, 480G or 580G, Constitutional Law I 

1. No degree will be conferred except on dates publicly announced.
2. A degree candidate must complete the last two long-session terms, or their equivalent, in residence in Texas Law at the University of Texas at Austin.
3. A degree candidate must be registered at the University in the term in which the degree is to be conferred and must submit a graduation application by the deadline given in the academic calendar. This date falls about eight weeks before the end of a long term and about four weeks before the end of a summer session.
4. Students are encouraged to attend the University’s Commencement and Texas Law’s Sunflower Ceremony, both held each spring. Summer and fall graduates are strongly encouraged to attend the Sunflower Ceremony along with spring graduates.

A student may receive a degree at Texas Law by fulfilling either the requirements given in the catalog in effect at the time the student entered the school, or those given in the catalog governing any subsequent year in which the student was in residence in the school. In any case, all the requirements for a degree at Texas Law must be completed no earlier than twenty-four months, and no later than eighty-four months, after a student has commenced study either at Texas Law or a law school from which the school has accepted transfer credit.

To earn a J.D. degree, a law student must take a minimum of 65 credit hours in regularly scheduled law school classes. These classes include seminars, cross-listed courses, and clinics. They do not include internships, DRS offerings, non-law graduate level classes, or undergraduate language classes. Thus, a student may count no more than 21 credit hours of combined credits from internships, DRS offerings, non-law graduate level classes, and undergraduate language classes in order to complete the 86 credit hour requirement for a JD degree.

A student granted provisional admission must earn their undergraduate degree prior to the start of the third year of law school.

A cumulative grade point average of at least 1.90 is required to graduate. See Grading Policies for more information on GPA calculation.

A graduation application, for diploma purposes, must be completed and submitted to the Student Affairs Office. Texas Law cannot automatically certify a student for graduation even if they have completed all requirements. Some students, for reasons of their own, do not wish to graduate even if they are eligible to do so. Therefore, it is essential that this application be filed by the specified deadline (usually mid-March for May graduation and mid-October for December graduation). For most students, their Degree Audit will include a button to apply to graduate after the 12th class day. Once this button is clicked, the application is complete. If there are any pending credits for graduation, this button will not be available and an online application may be obtained from the Student Affairs Office as needed.

This application is not the same as a Texas State Bar card, nor is it the same as the survey required for the Sunflower Ceremony. These are entirely different and are not related to the graduation application for diploma purposes.

• To avoid scholastic difficulty, students should complete all required coursework before the final term.
• All course work must be completed before graduation, even if a professor has set a deadline after graduation for the rest of the class. Work must be completed early enough that the professor can grade it and turn in a “pass” before the official end of the term.
• All directed and clinical research work must be completed during the term of registration to receive credit. Faculty may not enter incompletes for these courses. If a passing grade has not been received within five weeks of the last class day of the term, a grade of “Q” (drop) will automatically be entered on the student’s record. The student must then register and pay for the course again.
• Most faculty members do not have time to grade all exams before the graduation date. Therefore, papers/exams for graduating seniors are separated, and the instructors notify the Student Affairs Office one to three days after the last day of final exams whether the degree candidates in their class pass or fail the course. They are not asked for grades. Grades for graduates are submitted with the grades for the rest of the class. A graduating senior who fails a course is notified promptly by the Student Affairs Office.
• Students in a Dual Degree Program may not receive either degree until all work for both degrees has been completed. Both degrees must be awarded during the same semester.

It is the policy of Texas Law not to rank its students on the basis of academic standing. The only exception to this policy is the top 10% computed for eligibility for Order of the Coif, but individual students are not ranked.