Most master's level students at the Law School are enrolled in the University of Wisconsin's Master of Legal Institutions (M.L.I.) degree program, a course-based master's in law for students with law degrees from universities outside the United States.
The M.L.I. started at the University of Wisconsin over 50 years ago. It is the program for those who want to learn about American law and common law analysis. It is unique among other course-based master's programs at American law schools in that it was established based on an interdisciplinary approach to law. As a result, students can take courses from other departments at the University as well at the Law School. It is a one-year program that provides an excellent opportunity for taking a range of courses in U.S. and international law. The program is administered jointly by the The Graduate School of the University and the Law School's Graduate Admissions Office. General information about the MLI program is given here.
Fall and spring entry .
The deadline for application for fall 2009 entry is February 1, 2009. October 1, 2008 is the
deadline for spring (January 2009) entry.
Requires 24 credits. It is a rigorous program composed of graduate level coursework with a small research component.
Can be completed in one academic year (September-May, or January-May followed by September-December, in the case of spring entry). Student can extend the program through the summer or following fall semester if desired.
Two required courses (totaling 6 credits), which are excellent, designed specifically for MLI students. The required courses provide an overview of American law and skills in legal analysis, reading cases, and writing a legal research paper.
Electives are chosen from the JD curriculum or other University departments. Great flexibility in designing individualized programs
Each student has a faculty advisor.
MLI graduates may qualify to take a bar exam in the United States.
A TOEFL score of 250 (computer-based), 100 (Internet-based), or 600 (paper-based) and higher is desired.
Students with lower TOEFL scores may be considered for admission in
some cases. In those cases, the student may be required to take a 3
credit English class in the fall semester. The English class does not
count towards the 24 required credits.
The MLI program is also used as the initial course-based master's program by a small number of students from civil code countries who wish to pursue the research-based degrees at the UW Law School, the LLM (Master of Laws) and SJD (Doctor of Juridical Science) programs.
Application is done online.
If you have questions about the MLI program, you may find the answers on our Frequently Asked Questions page.
If you are interested in the MLI program, please read the Requirements of the program carefully.
The MLI entering class from about five years ago,
after their visit to
the Dane County Courthourse and observation of a jury trial.
