Juris Doctor-Master of Mass Communication, J.D./M.M.C.

The Law Center and LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication offer a concurrent degree program through which a student may receive both a Juris Doctor and a Master of Mass Communication (M.M.C.) degree in approximately four years.

Applicants to the program must be separately admitted into the J.D. and M.M.C. programs. Students may begin the program in either the Law Center or the Manship School, but one of the first two years of the program must be devoted exclusively to the first year of the J.D. program at the Law Center. Thereafter, students may take a combination of law and mass communication courses, and complete the M.M.C. thesis requirement near the end of the fourth year of the concurrent program. Although the two degree programs remain separate from one another, the concurrent program accelerates the completion of both degrees because of each school’s recognition of credit hours earned for course work completed in the other. The Law Center accepts nine credit hours of mass communications course work as elective credits toward the J.D. degree and the Manship School accepts nine credit hours of law course work as elective credits toward the M.M.C. degree. Tuition and fees will be paid to both the Law Center and LSU according to the number of credit hours for which the student is registered in each program.

The concurrent program is designed to appeal both to those students who wish to specialize in First Amendment and communications law as practicing lawyers, and to those who wish to work as professionals in mass communication in fields related to law.