Your application will be processed when all items listed have been received by Washburn Law. LSAT or GRE scores can be used to apply.
The Washburn Law LL.M. program is designed for foreign-trained lawyers who seek to learn a particular area of U.S. law or who seek to prepare to take the bar exam in a U.S. jurisdiction that permits LL.M. graduates to sit for the bar. This program is open to applicants who have earned, or will earn by the time they begin the program, a law degree.
If you are already in the U.S. attending a language program, college or university, please also submit the following:
Documents should be sent to by:
Please note: You are required to submit these documents before an I-20 (Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student Status-For Academic and Language Students) will be mailed to you.
Proficiency in English is a requirement for all LL.M. candidates.
LSAC's TOEFL code for the CAS is 0058.
To qualify for admission, you must have completed a four-year college course of study and hold a four-year baccalaureate degree from an institution accredited by a regional accrediting association. Preference will be given to students who have a strong undergraduate record and substantial prior professional experience.
Please note: If you are seeking a waiver of the standardized test score requirement, one of your recommenders must be a current or former employer with personal knowledge of your intellectual ability, character, work ethic, and substantial work experience.
Advanced standing and transfer policy: Students in good standing who have completed one semester of study at an American Bar Association accredited law school may be admitted to Washburn University School of Law with advanced standing. Students may transfer up to 30 credit hours of coursework to Washburn Law. A grade equivalent of C or better is required in order for course credits to be eligible for transfer.
Other than our established dual degrees, and our study abroad programs, with the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus in Barbados, we have no agreements between schools governing the transfer of credit (articulation agreements).
Your application will be processed when all items listed have been received by Washburn Law.
Applicants in this category have previously attended law school and wish to visit at Washburn Law for a semester to take courses.
Your application will be processed when all items listed have been received by Washburn Law.
Submit the following items directly to Washburn Law.Fall Start: Priority application date is April 1, but applications are accepted beyond this date.
Spring Start: Priority application date is November 15 for January start, with continued acceptance of applications after this date.
Fall Start: Application deadline is June 1.
Admission decisions are made on a rolling basis, and applications are processed once all materials are received.
Students needing a visa should apply well before the deadline to allow time for visa processing.
We do not have a strict deadline, but priority is give to applications received by March 15.
Washburn has agreements with several institutions offered law early admission programs. You will need to work with your undergraduate institution to apply through their program.
Learn more about LEAP.
You'll follow the same procedures outlined above, but in addition, you will need to complete the following step.
Complete credential evaluation by a U.S. service:
Applicants who have previously attended law school but do not wish to transfer any previous coursework or were not in good standing at the time they left a previous law school, follow the same procedures outlined above in the J.D. LSAT Applicant Steps, but they will need to add one additional step outlined below.
Submit the following items directly to Washburn Law.
Washburn Law is not able to award advanced standing credit for coursework taken at a law school that is not accredited by the American Bar Association. Your application to Washburn Law will be considered a new student application (i.e., without advanced standing credits). However, in addition to the steps outlined above for a J.D. LSAT applicant, you will also need to complete the following:
Submit the following items directly to Washburn Law.
Although generally grades received at Washburn University School of Law are recorded on a student's transcript and are included in the cumulative GPA, there are unusual circumstances in which students may be granted academic fresh start.
Academic fresh start includes the following:
There are only two circumstances in which Academic Fresh Start is applicable. They are as follows:
In addition, test takers will not be permitted to retake the LSAT if they have already scored a 180 (perfect score) within the current and five past testing years, the period in which LSAC reports scores to law schools. This aspect of the policy will be applied retroactively.
There is an appeals process for test takers who have special circumstances and want to request an exception to this policy. Those requesting an exception should contact the Law School Admission Council.
Indicating "yes" to the Character and Fitness questions on the application for admission related to past or current violations of the law does not prohibit acceptance to our law program.
However, we want to make sure you understand that admission to law school and completion of a law degree does not guarantee you admission to the bar. Because of the ethical standards to which lawyers are held, failure to disclose information required by the Character and Fitness questions will often lead to more serious consequences than would flow from a full disclosure of the required information.
If you indicate "yes" to any of the Character and Fitness questions on the application it will be necessary to attach a statement fully describing the events giving rise to the charge, the date of the charge, conviction or diversion, the name and location of the courts, and the disposition for each offense.
Also, please keep in mind that, if, before or after a decision is made, any new developments cause your answer to no longer be correct or complete, you are obligated to immediately inform the Admissions Office.
Students who graduate from the LL.M. program may apply to the JD program as transfer students. LL.M. students wishing to transfer to the J.D. program must complete the J.D. application process through LSAC. (Fee waivers may be available from the Admissions Office.) Upon successful admission to the J.D. program, a maximum of 30 credits from LL.M. coursework can be applied toward the JD degree, but only for graded courses in which the LL.M. student earned a B+ or better and not including the Introduction to Anglo-American Law course.
Updated February 2024
You should know that the program is not designed for students who would really prefer to go to law school and to practice law. American Bar Association accreditation policies generally prohibit us from transferring credit from our M.S.L. program toward completion of a J.D. degree.
With that understanding, you would generally not have to retake the LSAT as long as you took the LSAT within a reasonable time prior to applying to the J.D. program. The law school would, however, still consider your prior LSAT as a factor in your application for admission so it might be to your advantage to retake the LSAT if you have a marginal score. Generally, we only consider your best LSAT score when evaluating your application for admission to law school.