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\nThere are some real benefits to a dual JD\/MBA, in terms of salary and jobs. But beyond the salary and jobs, is this degree worth it? As a JD\/MBA professor, I’m happy to give you my perspective on this unique type of program: its structure, its costs and rewards, and the learning experience it provides.<\/p>\n
Law and business graduate faculty would probably agree that this joint program is probably the most challenging in the educational community. And, from an employer\u2019s perspective, this duality is probably the most commercially relevant.<\/p>\n
This\u00a0blog post\u00a0speaks to the prospective MBA candidate<\/a> who is curious about law school, the time\/energy commitment, and the benefits of this joint degree. This is the most marketable dual degree now being offered at many graduate schools across the country.\u00a0 Want a four-year adventure? Then embark upon the most challenging and rigorous graduate program available.<\/p>\n Typically, the first and fourth year of the program consist solely of law courses while the second and third year are an integration of law and business. (However, the Kellogg School and Northwestern University’s School of Law tout a three-year, fully integrated, joint program.)<\/p>\n Per U.S. News & World Report, strong rankings for business<\/a> and law<\/a> include the well-recognized, familiar-name schools.<\/p>\n Columbia<\/a>:<\/strong> business school (12), law school\u00a0(8)<\/p>\n Harvard<\/a>:<\/strong> business school (6), law school (4)<\/p>\n Northwestern University<\/a>:<\/strong> business school (3), law school (9)<\/p>\n Stanford<\/a>:<\/strong> business school (1), law school (1)<\/p>\n UC Berkeley<\/a>:<\/strong> business school (7), law school (12)<\/p>\n University of Chicago<\/a>:<\/strong> business school (3), law school (3)<\/p>\n University of Pennsylvania<\/a>:<\/strong> business school (1), law school (4)<\/p>\n Yale<\/a>:<\/strong> business school (7), law school (1)<\/p>\n Tuition structures for JD\/MBA dual degrees vary a lot at different universities. Generally, a dual degree costs more than getting just an MBA. Surprisingly, sometimes this dual degree can cost slightly less than getting a JD alone.\u00a0And getting a dual JD\/MBA will always cost less than completing a JD and an MBA separately.<\/p>\n Schemes for tuition and fees can be a bit complex, almost convoluted. To give you an example, I’ll walk you through the current tuition structure and total schooling costs of the top program in the list above: Harvard.<\/p>\n Harvard’s JD\/MBA program<\/a> takes four years to complete. In the first two years, students study for one year each at the Harvard School of Business and the Harvard School of Law. During those years, JD\/MBA students pay full tuition at whichever school they’re taking classes in for the year. At Harvard’s today, JD\/MBA scholars pay $76,410 for their first year at business school and $77,100 for their first year in law school. This means a total tuition cost of $153,510 for the first half of the program.<\/p>\n In years 3 and 4 of the JD\/MBA degree path, students study simultaneously in both schools. They then take the equivalent of 1 additional year of courses in the business school and one additional year of law school classes. During these upper-level years in the degree, students pay 40% of current business school tuition rate and 65% of current law school rate. Right now, that means an additional $30,564 in tuition for business school and an extra $50,115 in law school tuition.<\/p>\n So the total tuition cost for Harvard’s\u00a0JD\/MBA is $234,189. A Harvard JD on its own takes three years, totaling $231,300. The MBA at Harvard is a two year program, priced right now at $152,820 in total tuition. If you decide on a JD\/MBA dual degree at Harvard but you had originally planned for a JD, you save $3,189 in tuition and spend an extra year in school. If your original choice would have been just an MBA, you spend an extra $81,369 in tuition and spend an extra two years in school. Either way, you ultimately spend more\u00a0money<\/em>. The $3,189 you save if you upgrade from a JD to a JD\/MBA will be eaten up by an extra year of living expenses and lost wages.<\/p>\n Not all universities offer Harvard’s exact arrangements. Still, JD\/MBA dual degrees ultimately cost more than just a JD or just an MBA, no matter what campus you go to. At Stanford University<\/a>, a JD\/MBA takes four years and costs $272,595 in tuition, while a JD is 3 years long at $223,425. Then, a\u00a0Stanford MBA is two years long at $164,910. And the University of Chicago<\/a> estimates their total JD\/MBA cost to be $470,523.<\/p>\n Is a JD\/MBA dual degree worth the extra time and money, in terms of employment and pay after graduation? Again, this is a little hard to figure out. One thing that makes this a complicated question is the fact that no job really requires both a JD and an MBA. So if you get this dual degree, you’ll either end up working as a lawyer or in business after graduation. Obviously you won’t be holding down both of these jobs at the same time.<\/p>\n To get an idea of the kind of money you might make right after finishing a JD\/MBA, let’s look once again at three of the top schools listed at the beginning of this post. According to U.S. News and World Report<\/a>, Stanford MBA graduates make on average $230,000 a year immediately after graduation. UPenn (Wharton) and U. of Chicago (Booth) b-school grads make an average of $213,000 per year on graduation. U.S. News also reports<\/a> that those with a JD from a top 15 program earn a median starting salary of $190,000 in the private sector.<\/p>\n These post-degree salary figures don’t tell the whole story, though. In the long run, JD\/MBA holders have much better prospects for promotions, increases in pay, and general upward mobility. Those with both a JD and an MBA can switch between business management work and law in the course of their careers. They can also use their degree to negotiate better entry level pay, better raises, and more frequent promotions.<\/p>\n Ultimately, dual-degree graduates may also enjoy a wider spectrum of job opportunities. They will often finding work in the general counsel\u2019s office of a large corporation or in the business litigation division of a large law firm.<\/p>\n From a professorial perspective the JD\/MBA students, usually 12-14 in a class, were always a delight to teach. I always expected a certain level of preparedness and they consistently delivered. And they had expectations for me as well: they wanted topical, seminal law cases assigned for discussion. As a group I noticed a given student would lean toward or favor a particular discipline. Those who were more business oriented were older, more practical with considerable work experience. Those who considered themselves law students first were more irreverent, talkative, and generally better writers. They most often had a liberal arts undergraduate degree. And they formed tribal groups early on sometime arguing loudly across the classroom.<\/p>\n If you are considering the JD\/MBA talk to trusted mentors, check your finances, ponder the job market, and think carefully about a radical change of lifestyle.<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s Note: This post was originally published by Professor Dave Scalise in March 2012. It has since been updated by David Recine and Magoosh staff for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are some real benefits to a dual JD\/MBA, in terms of salary and jobs. But beyond the salary and jobs, is this degree worth it? As a JD\/MBA professor, I’m happy to give you my perspective on this unique type of program: its structure, its costs and rewards, and the learning experience it provides. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[198],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13227],"class_list":["post-1229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe dual law and business degree\u00a0in terms of\u00a0extra cost… or savings<\/h2>\n
JD\/MBA salary and jobs<\/h2>\n
Post graduation salary and fringe benefits<\/h2>\n
The JD\/MBA dual degree: My perspective as a professor<\/h2>\n