There are at least five different uses of the term ‘residency’
for various accrediting bodies and governmental agencies - the
School of Law, the New York State Court of Appeals, the American
Bar Association, the Association of American Law Schools, and the
U.S. Department of Education. Each group uses somewhat different
definitions.
Under the New York State Court of Appeals Rules for the
Admission of Attorneys and Counselors at Law, all day students must
take a program involving four (4) days of scheduled classes,
scheduled principally between the hours of eight o’clock in the
morning and six o’clock in the evening, and all evening students
must take a program involving three (3) days of scheduled
classes.
However, the Rules allow the Law School to waive these
requirements under certain circumstances. For example, a day
student whose first-year class schedule consists of four (4) days
of scheduled classes may satisfy the Court’s requirement if the
student schedules classes on at least 3 days a week in four
upper-class semesters.
Field placements in externships and credits earned for
participation in co-curricular activities are not considered in
determining compliance with the scheduled days per week
requirements.
- Day students must register for and successfully complete 6
terms of at least 12 credits per term at this Law School.
- Evening students must register for and successfully complete 8
terms of at least 8 credits per term at this Law School.
Day students may reduce the tuition charge for one semester
during their law school tenure by taking between 8 and 11 credits
provided that the student has taken at least three optional summer
credits at this Law School that when combined with the reduced
semester credit hours will equal one full semester of at least 12
credit hours. The reduced charge is equal to the evening tuition
rate.
Evening students may reduce the tuition charge for one semester
during their law school tenure by taking less than eight credits
provided that the student has taken at least three optional summer
credits at this Law School that when combined with the reduced
semester credit hours will equal one full semester of at least 8
credit hours. The reduced charge is equal to the credit hour rate
multiplied by the number of
credits taken during the reduced semester.
Students are advised that the Law School’s residency
requirements for program and tuition requirements differ from
residency requirements of the Rules of the Court of Appeals. The
student who intends to take fewer credits in one semester as
described above must review the residency requirements of the Court
of Appeals and may be required to petition the Court of Appeals for
a waiver of those requirements.
Note
Optional summer credits do not include credits earned by students
who accelerate their date of graduation or by students who have
transferred from the evening to the day division, or credits earned
in the St. John’s University School of Law Rome Summer Program or
in a summer program offered by any other law school.
It should be noted that under ABA requirements, full-time
students may not engage in outside employment of more than twenty
(20) hours per week.