Syracuse University College of Law and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) have entered into a 3+3 Admissions Agreement for RIT students who wish to kick start their legal careers. The agreement enables qualified students to obtain their bachelor’s and J.D. degrees in six years, instead of seven.
Under the agreement, RIT students who are admitted and enroll through the 3+3 program must complete all coursework required of their School of Individualized Study undergraduate major in three years. Their first year at the College of Law then fulfills the final year of their bachelor’s degree, allowing 3+3 students to finish both degrees in six years.
“The 3+3 agreement with Syracuse provides our students with an accelerated pathway to one of the top law schools in New York State, just 90 miles from Rochester, trimming one year off the total time for an undergraduate and law degree,” says RIT’s Interim Dean for the College of Liberal Arts LaVerne McQuiller-Williams. “This new partnership enables our students not only to get a jump on their legal careers, in many cases student will save on tuition and living expenses.”
“Our 3+3 agreement with RIT places students on a fast-tracked path into the College of Law and our innovative programs, academic offerings and experiential learning opportunities,” says Denée Page, assistant dean of enrollment management, Syracuse University College of Law. “I look forward to meeting talented RIT students and to helping them map their future through Syracuse.”
“Among our multi-disciplinary research centers and institutes, the College of Law’s Innovation Law Center (ILC) will be of special interest to RIT students,” explains College of Law Dean Craig M. Boise. “This program attracts top law students interested in intellectual property law, and it is a particularly good fit for students with a science and technology background. ILC is just one of Syracuse’s applied learning opportunities, along with our nationwide externship program and our advocacy program, ranked 15th in the nation.”
Designated the New York State Science and Technology Law Center since 2004, ILC offers a technology commercialization law curricular program for students interested in the technical, legal and business aspects of bringing new technologies to market. In addition to focused doctrinal study, ILC students work on research projects for real technologies on behalf of universities, federal research laboratories, technology development organizations, and established companies and startups. The program provides a solid foundation for careers in law firms, corporations, government agencies, tech transfer offices, and consulting and investment banking firms.
With this agreement, RIT joins other 3+3 schools who partner with Syracuse University College of Law in Upstate New York—Alfred University, Le Moyne College, Nazareth College and St. John Fisher College—as well as Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management and three Atlanta-based Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Spelman College.
Interested RIT students should visit the institute’s pre-law program page for more information. More details on Syracuse’s 3+3 programs can be found on the College of Law’s Office of Admissions webpages.
