Thanks to a new partnership between Kent State University and Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, the College of Public Health will offer students a new pathway to earn a bachelor’s degree from Kent State University and a law degree from CSU in six years. Students in the Bachelor of Science in Public Health, Allied Health concentration, will have the possibility to enroll in the Juris Doctor program and complete both degrees in six years instead of seven.
"The new 3+3 program will allow students to double count an entire year’s worth of coursework between their undergraduate degree and law school.
What would normally take students seven years, they will be able to do in six,” says Thomas Brewer, Ph.D., M.Jur., CHC, associate professor of health policy and management in the College of Public Health. “Students will start their undergraduate degree at Kent State University and, if they meet the requirements, can apply to CSU Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in their junior year.”
To be eligible for the new 3+3 program, CPH students will be required to complete at least 91 hours of undergraduate coursework with a minimum of 3.45 GPA, and the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) with a minimum score in the 60th percentile.
"If they get accepted, they will continue their studies at CSU,” Brewer explains. “In their first year at Cleveland Marshall Law School they will take 29 credit hours of coursework that will be moved back at KSU, completing the 120 hours requirement to graduate. Students then will be awarded their bachelor’s degree at Kent State University and continue law school at CSU for their second and third year.”
According to Brewer, the 3+3 degree is a great opportunity for students to save time and money. “We’re always looking for ways to provide the best value for students in their education. This program saves them a year of tuition, room and board costs, and all the expenses associated with attending college,” says Brewer.
"Students of Northeast Ohio will be able to become lawyers in a timely and cost-effective manner,” states Deborah Geier, professor of law at CSU Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. “Cleveland State already had other agreements in place, but I am particularly excited about this new pathway because Kent State is a great institution to partner with,” Geier continues. “This 3+3 agreement is a great opportunity for public health students interested in combining their healthcare background and a law background, especially because of our Center of Health Law and Policy,” says Geier.
"The last two years, because of the COVID-19 pandemic response, have brought to the forefront the importance of the intersection between public health and the law. The goal of the 3+3 program is to educate the next generation of public health legal scholars,” states Brewer. “The competencies that our students acquire during their CPH undergraduate program will help them be better advocates for public health in the legal area, in public policy, public decision making, as well as rule and regulation making,” continues Brewer. “Students will have the opportunity to pursue their careers in many fields related to healthcare, from malpractice law to privacy law, from the business aspects of healthcare to public health law.”
The 3+3 degree is open to most CPH undergraduate students. “Incoming freshmen can enroll from the first semester, and they are going to be better able to take advantage of double-counting the entire 29 hours if they are earlier in their college career,” Brewer says. However, the program is also for existing juniors or sophomores. If students are interested in going into law school, they should not hesitate to talk to their advisor because they can still get into the program,” Brewer concludes.
For more information about the Kent State College of Public Health to CSU Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Juris Doctor 3+3 Program, please contact Dr. Thomas Brewer at twbrewer@kent.edu.
For more information about the Kent State to CSU Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Juris Doctor 3+3 Program, please contact Kent State’s Enrollment Management Academic Partnerships at pathways@kent.edu. To see a list of degree pathways offered by Kent State and its partner institutions, visit www.kent.edu/admissions/degree-pathways.