Requirements & Prerequisites

A Colorado Law student must satisfy certain requirements to receive a J.D. degree, such as completing a certain number of credit hours, earning a minimum GPA, and taking the required courses (see below). A student can earn credit for certain courses and activities that do not have a significant classroom component, such as journals, competitions, and externships. The Law School Rules place certain caps on the number of such credits.

1L Required Courses

1Ls take a full schedule of courses—16 hours in the fall semester and 15 in the spring semester.

First Semester 

  • (LAWS 5303)
  •  (LAWS 5121)
  •  (LAWS 5226)
  •  (LAWS 5205)
  •  (LAWS 5425)

Second Semester

  • ( LAWS 6005)
  • (LAWS 5503)
  • (LAWS 5646), starting with the Class of 2027
  • (LAWS 5223)
  •  (LAWS 5624)

2L & 3L Required Courses

  •  (LAWS 6353)
  • (LAWS 6103)
  • Seminar (please note that only courses numbered 8000 and above have been approved as seminars that satisfy the graduation requirement).
  • Experiential Learning Students who start law school in the fall 2016 semester or later will also have to complete six credit hours of experiential courses. Experiential courses are simulation courses, law clinics, and externships.  At least two of these credits must be obtained in courses with regularly scheduled class sessions or in clinics.  Externships do not qualify as courses with regularly scheduled class sessions. Thus a maximum of four externship credits can be used to satisfy the six required experiential credits. The registrar’s office will post which courses in a given semester meet the definition of simulation courses before registration begins for that semester. Classes like journal, competitions, and Barristers' Council do not count towards the experiential learning graduation requirement. 
  • No student shall receive more than 14 credit hours toward the JD degree from co-curricular activities such as journals, moot court, and trial competitions; Independent Legal Research; courtroom observation courses; externships; or coursework completed in another department, school or college of the University or at another institution of higher learning. All clinics and classes such as Trial Advocacy, Advanced Trial Advocacy, and Motions Advocacy do not count towards the 14-credit cap.
  • Experiential Learning Graduation Requirement Vs. 14-Credit Cap
 
 

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