The Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies offers in-depth knowledge of the U.S. court system, legal writing and research, legal practice, and various types of law, while emphasizing governance, civil and criminal processes, and the theory and philosophy of justice. This degree will aid you in doing your part to help solve aspects of the complex societal challenges associated with the public’s ability to access justice by providing a broad understanding of law and the legal field. By equipping you for ethical service and leadership, the knowledge gained from this degree is often required in environments such as law firms, corporations, and local and national government agencies.
Degree Program Objectives
In addition to the institutional and degree level learning objectives, graduates of this program are expected to achieve these learning outcomes:
- Appraise the merits of legal research and writing skills as applied in realistic contexts.
- Differentiate factual, conceptual and procedural patterns through the use of critical thinking and legal analytical skills.
- Collaborate on finding legal solutions with technology.
Degree at a Glance
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Requirements | 30 | |
| Major Required | 24 | |
| Select one of the following concentrations: | 24 | |
| Final Program Requirements | 3 | |
| Electives Requirements | 39 | |
| Total Semester Hours | 120 | |
Degree Program Requirements
General Education Requirements (30 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Arts and Humanities (6 semester hours) 1 | ||
| PHIL101 | Introduction to Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL110 | Critical Thinking | 3 |
| Civics, Political and Social Sciences (6 semester hours) 1 | ||
| POLS210 | American Government I | 3 |
| SOCI212 | Social Problems | 3 |
| Communication: Writing, Oral, and Multimedia (9 semester hours) | ||
| COMM120 | Information and Digital Literacy | 3 |
| ENGL110 | Making Writing Relevant | 3 |
| ENGL115 | Argumentation and Rhetoric | 3 |
| History (3 semester hours) | ||
| Select 1 course from the following: | 3 | |
| American History to 1877 | ||
| American History since 1877 | ||
| World Civilization before 1650 | ||
| World Civilization since 1650 | ||
| Western Civilization before The Thirty Years War | ||
| Western Civilization since The Thirty Years War | ||
| African-American History before 1877 | ||
| African-American History since 1877 | ||
| History of the American Indian | ||
| History of Science | ||
| The History and Context of STEM | ||
| Mathematics and Applied Reasoning (3 semester hours) | ||
| Select 1 course from the following: | 3 | |
| Accounting for Non Accounting Majors | ||
| Fundamentals of Programming | ||
| College Algebra | ||
| College Trigonometry | ||
| Pre-Calculus | ||
| Introduction to Statistics | ||
| Math for Liberal Arts Majors | ||
| Calculus | ||
| Natural Sciences (3 semester hours) | 3 | |
| Introduction to Biology | ||
| Introduction to Human Anatomy and Physiology | ||
| Introduction to Chemistry | ||
| Introduction to Meteorology | ||
| Introduction to Geology | ||
| Introduction to Environmental Science | ||
| Introduction to Physics | ||
| Introduction to Astronomy | ||
| Introduction to STEM Disciplines | ||
| Total Semester Hours | 30 | |
| 1 | All literature courses require successful completion of ENGL101 - Proficiency in Writing or ENGL110 - Making Writing Relevant. |
Major Required (24 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ENGL101 | Proficiency in Writing | 3 |
| LSTD204 | Introduction to the Courts | 3 |
| LSTD205 | Legal Research and Writing | 3 |
| LSTD207 | Civil Practice and Procedure | 3 |
| LSTD210 | Legal Ethics | 3 |
| LSTD211 | Introduction to Legal Technology | 3 |
| LSTD301 | Constitutional Law | 3 |
| LSTD303 | Family Law | 3 |
| Total Semester Hours | 24 | |
You must choose a concentration for this degree program and may select from the General Concentration, Concentration in Criminal Law Support, Concentration in Legal Communications, Concentration in Legal Data Analytics, Concentration in Legal Data Security, Concentration in Legal Entrepreneurism/Small Business Management, Concentration in Legal Ethics, or Concentration in Legal Office Administration.
General Concentration (24 semester hours)
A general concentration allows you to take courses across a number of areas of study within your program based on your own interests.
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 8 courses from the following: | 24 | |
| Sports Law, Risk, and Regulation | ||
| Introduction to Hotel and Restaurant Law | ||
| Law and Ethics in the Business Environment | ||
| Environmental Policy, Regulation, and Law | ||
| Hospitality Law | ||
| Law, Privacy, and Digital Data | ||
| Military Law | ||
| International Law | ||
| Maritime Law | ||
| Immigration Law and Policy | ||
| Evidence | ||
| Public Policy | ||
| Sociology of the Law | ||
| Total Semester Hours | 24 | |
Concentration in Criminal Law Support (24 semester hours)
This 24-semester-hour concentration provides a comprehensive conceptual and skills-based exposure to the substantive law, ethics, and procedures needed to effectively assist lawyers in preparing for and presenting legal cases before criminal courts.*
| * | Practice of law is defined by state bar associations. Students must check with their respective state bar associations to learn more about attorney and non-lawyer legal professional licensing requirements. |
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
- Explore and react appropriately to a range of realistic criminal law contexts.
- Differentiate the factual, conceptual, ethical, and procedural patterns relating to criminal law matters through the application of critical thinking and legal analytical skills.
- Use technology to find legal solutions to criminal law-related challenges.
- Gain skills often needed to competently and ethically support lawyers in criminal law-related matters.
Concentration Requirements (24 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| CMRJ201 | Criminal Justice Administration | 3 |
| LSTD203 | Criminal Law and Procedure for the Paralegal | 3 |
| LSTD302 | Criminal Law | 3 |
| LSTD201 | Litigation | 3 |
| LSTD300 | Administrative Law and Policy | 3 |
| CMRJ101 | Evidence and Procedures | 3 |
| LSTD453 | Evidence | 3 |
| LSTD454 | Legal Technology: eDiscovery | 3 |
| Total Semester Hours | 24 | |
Concentration in Legal Communications (24 semester hours)
This 24-semester-hour concentration provides a comprehensive conceptual and skills-based exposure to the substantive legal and communications-related topics, ethics, and procedures needed to effectively assist lawyers in their public communications.
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
- Communicate with the public in multiple ways about legal contexts.
- Differentiate factual, conceptual, ethical, and procedural patterns relating to legal matters through the use of critical thinking and legal analytical skills.
- Use technology to find public communication-related solutions to legal challenges.
- Gain skills often needed to competently and ethically deliver public communications about a variety of legal matters.
Concentration Requirements (24 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| COMM200 | Public Speaking | 3 |
| COMM280 | Ethics in Communication | 3 |
| COMM300 | Communication Research Skills | 3 |
| COMM350 | Journalism | 3 |
| COMM351 | Strategic Communication | 3 |
| MKTG304 | Public Relations | 3 |
| COMM370 | Situational Communication | 3 |
| COMM380 | Communication of Listening | 3 |
| Total Semester Hours | 24 | |
Concentration in Legal Data Analytics (24 semester hours)
This 24-semester-hour concentration provides a comprehensive conceptual and skills-based exposure to the substantive legal and business concepts, ethics, and procedures needed to effectively assist lawyers in understanding and maximizing the power of their data.
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
- Scrutinize legal data in multiple ways to maximize its use in appropriate legal and business ways.
- Differentiate factual, conceptual, ethical, and procedural patterns relating to legal data through the use of critical thinking and legal analytical skills.
- Use technology to find solutions to challenges associated with legal data.
- Gain skills often needed to competently and ethically work with offices that handle legal data.
Concentration Requirements (24 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| BUSN250 | Analytics I | 3 |
| BUSN311 | Law and Ethics in the Business Environment | 3 |
| BUSN330 | Fundamentals of Business Analysis I | 3 |
| BUSN331 | Fundamentals of Business Analysis II | 3 |
| BUSN336 | Strategic Policy Decision-Making | 3 |
| BUSN350 | Analytics II | 3 |
| BUSN450 | Advanced Analytics | 3 |
| ITMG481 | Ethics in Information Technology | 3 |
| Total Semester Hours | 24 | |
Concentration in Legal Data Security (24 semester hours)
This 24-semester-hour concentration provides a comprehensive conceptual and skills-based exposure to the substantive legal and business concepts, ethics, and procedures needed to effectively assist lawyers in protecting their data, including that which belongs to their clients.
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
- Scrutinize legal data in multiple ways to protect its use in appropriate legal and business ways.
- Differentiate factual, conceptual, ethical, and procedural patterns relating to legal data through the use of critical thinking and legal analytical skills.
- Use technology to find solutions to challenges associated with legal data.
- Gain skills often needed to competently and ethically protect legal data.
Concentration Requirements (24 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| INFO222 | Database Concepts | 3 |
| ISSC231 | Networking Concepts | 3 |
| ISSC290 | Securing Databases | 3 |
| ISSC331 | Legal Issues in Information Security | 3 |
| ISSC361 | Information Assurance | 3 |
| ISSC363 | IT Security: Risk Management | 3 |
| ISSC421 | Computer and Network Security | 3 |
| ITMG481 | Ethics in Information Technology | 3 |
| Total Semester Hours | 24 | |
This 24-semester-hour concentration provides a comprehensive conceptual and skills-based exposure to the substantive legal and business concepts, ethics, and procedures needed to effectively operate a business to help create new solutions to challenges impacting the legal field.
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
- Explore innovative business concepts to try to solve issues related to society’s inability to access justice when they need it.
- Differentiate factual, conceptual, ethical, and procedural patterns relating to legal and business challenges through the use of critical thinking and legal analytical skills.
- Use technology to find solutions to challenges associated with legal entrepreneurism.
- Gain skills often needed to competently and ethically try to help solve at least some portion of the access-to-justice problem.
Concentration Requirements (24 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| BUSN311 | Law and Ethics in the Business Environment | 3 |
| ENTR421 | The Value of Networking | 3 |
| ENTR150 | Idea Generation | 3 |
| ENTR215 | Innovation Design and Prototyping | 3 |
| ENTR300 | Foundations of Entrepreneurship | 3 |
| ENTR311 | Business Plan Foundations | 3 |
| ENTR320 | Practical Law for the Entrepreneur | 3 |
| LSTD212 | Basic Contracts Law | 3 |
| Total Semester Hours | 24 | |
Students in this concentration learn the substantive law and procedures needed to effectively assist lawyers in making ethical decisions on behalf of their clients. The same knowledge and skills can support those students desiring to become non-lawyer legal professionals who are authorized to act independently of lawyers.* It also offers students opportunities to practice relevant skills in realistic scenarios.
| * | Practice of law is defined by state bar associations. Students must check with their respective state bar associations to learn more about attorney and non-lawyer legal professional licensing requirements |
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
- Explore and react appropriately to a range of realistic legal contexts that involve ethical dilemmas.
- Differentiate the factual, conceptual, ethical, and procedural patterns relating to legal matters involving ethical questions through the application of critical thinking and legal analytical skills.
- Use technology to find legal solutions to ethical challenges.
- Gain skills often needed to competently and ethically support lawyers, or act independently (if legally authorized) in matters involving ethical questions.
Concentration Requirements (24 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL200 | Introduction to Ethics | 3 |
| COMM280 | Ethics in Communication | 3 |
| PHIL300 | Logic | 3 |
| PHIL330 | Philosophy of Law | 3 |
| Select 4 courses from the following: | 12 | |
| Law and Ethics in the Business Environment | ||
| Ethics in Criminal Justice | ||
| Ethics in Information Technology | ||
| Management Ethics | ||
| Healthcare: Moral Issues | ||
| Environmental Ethics | ||
| Ethics in Politics | ||
| Sociology of the Law | ||
| Legal and Ethical Issues in Security Management | ||
| Ethics in Sports | ||
| Total Semester Hours | 24 | |
Concentration in Legal Office Administration (24 semester hours)
This 24-semester-hour concentration provides a comprehensive conceptual and skills-based exposure to the substantive legal and business concepts, ethics, and procedures needed to effectively operate legal offices.
Note: EDMG220, FINC300, FINC405, and HRMT407 may be taken as elective courses to expand your knowledge of this specific concentration area.
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
- Explore business concepts to help operate legally-oriented businesses properly.
- Differentiate factual, conceptual, ethical, and procedural patterns relating to legal and business challenges through the use of critical thinking and legal analytical skills.
- Use technology to find solutions to challenges associated with legal office administration.
- Gain skills often needed to competently and ethically manage legal business operations.
Concentration Requirements (24 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| BUSN330 | Fundamentals of Business Analysis I | 3 |
| BUSN331 | Fundamentals of Business Analysis II | 3 |
| BUSN333 | Project Management for Business Analysts | 3 |
| BUSN336 | Strategic Policy Decision-Making | 3 |
| BUSN410 | Critical Thinking Strategies for Business Decisions | 3 |
| HRMT101 | Human Relations Communication | 3 |
| LSTD212 | Basic Contracts Law | 3 |
| MGMT101 | Principles of Supervision | 3 |
| Total Semester Hours | 24 | |
Final Program Requirements (3 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 1 course from the following: | 3 | |
| Senior Seminar in Legal Studies (to be taken as the last course before graduation) 1 | ||
| Practical Legal Studies Applications | ||
| Total Semester Hours | 3 | |
| 1 | Prerequisite: Senior Standing and completion of all major courses prior to enrollment. |
Elective Requirements (39 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select any courses not already taken to fulfill the requirements listed above. Credits applied toward a minor or certificate in an unrelated field may be used to fulfill elective credit for the major. | 39 | |
| Total Semester Hours | 39 | |