Graduation Requirements and Credit Caps

This page is intended to help you make sure you are on track to meet the requirements to receive a J.D. degree.  However, it is ultimately your responsibility to ensure that you have satisfied these requirements.  

JD Degree Audit Tool

Students can track their degree progress here:

  • It is meant to be a guide and is not an official record. It assumes successful completion of all coursework currently in progress. Students are responsible for reading, understanding, and following the Law School Rules to meet all degree requirements. Degree audits do not cover dual degrees or certificates at this time.
  • Incomplete coursework is not included in total credit calculation.
  • Experiential Learning Graduation Requirement Vs. 14-Credit Cap
  • Sample degree audit

Graduation Requirements

To receive a J.D. degree, you must satisfy the following requirements:

  • Complete eighty-nine (89) total credit hours with a numerical GPA of at least 2.0 (or ninety-two (92) credit hours if you are pursuing a certificate—be sure to work with your program advisor to make sure you are on track to graduate with the certificate).
  • Complete all required courses in the first-year (1L) curriculum and the following required courses in the second and third-year (2L and 3L) curricula:
    • Legal Ethics and Professionalism
    • Evidence
    • Seminar (designated by course numbers 8000-8999).
  • Students must take at least six total credits in clinics, externships, or courses designated as "simulation courses." Only four of those six credits may be earned in externships. In advance of each semester, the Law School will announce which courses are designated as "simulation courses" for that upcoming semester. 
  • Students entering the law school in Fall 2024 and beyond must also complete , which is part of the first-year (1L) curriculum.

Credit Caps

You must earn a minimum of sixty-four (64) credits of the 89 required credit hours in regular class sessions. The Law School Rules allow you to earn credit for a number of courses and activities that do not have a significant classroom component at Colorado Law, such as journals, competitions, and externships, as well as courses in other departments or at other schools. Clinics do not count towards the 14-credit cap.  The Rules place the following caps on such credits:

  • Up to fourteen (14) of the 89 credit hours may be in coursework outside of the Law School and for courses and activities that do not involve a substantial classroom component, 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;
  • Up to five (5) credit hours may be for competitions alone, or up to seven (7) credits may be for competitions if two (2) of those credits are for Barristers' Council;
  • Up to a total of eight (8) credit hours may be for journals, competitions, and Barristers' Council combined;
  • Up to three (3) credit hours may be for independent legal research credits;
  • Up to six (6) credit hours may be for non-law courses approved for credit towards the J.D. (except for dual degree programs that specifically provide otherwise); an
  • Up to four (4) credits for an externship in a semester and up to seven (7) total externship credits towards the JD degree. Alternatively, if special approval has been granted for a single semester seven (7) credit externship in Colorado or a single semester ten (10) credit externship at a national or international placement. 
  • Clinics do not count towards the 14-credit cap.
  • There is not a limit on the number of pass/graded courses a student can take and count towards graduation. However, many pass/graded courses are part of the 14-credit cap.

Please keep these caps in mind as you continue to work towards your degree requirements, as credits earned in excess of any these caps will NOT count towards the 89 needed to graduate.  For example, if you take 16 credits of courses which are part of the "14-credit cap", only 14 will count towards graduation, and you will need to take an additional two credits in uncapped courses to graduate. See the for more information.

Additional Things to Keep in Mind

We also encourage you to periodically check Buff Portal and your transcript to be sure your credits are accurate. If you have successfully petitioned to receive J.D. credit for a graduate course taken in another department, please make sure that your transcript reflects that course. If it does not, please let the know. If you are working towards a dual degree, take special care to work with your other department as well to ensure that you are on track to receive both degrees.

Finally, please note that ABA standards do not permit students to enroll in more than 18 credits at any time. Fallsession and wintersession courses do not count towards that semester's 18-credit cap IF the faculty member requires all coursework to be complete before the start of the fall or spring semester (as is the case, for example, if the course has a final at the end of the fallsession or wintersession period but not if the course requires a paper that is not due until sometime during the following semester).

Questions? Contact the Registrar’s Office at lawreg@colorado.edu.

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