Los Angeles, CA – Southwestern Law School and California State University, Northridge (CSUN) have established a joint, accelerated multiple-degree program through which students can earn both their Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees in six years, rather than the usual seven. ew post-recession global order.

Students participating in the 3+3 B.A./J.D. Program will have their first year of law school count as the fourth year of their undergraduate education. Students admitted to Southwestern through the program will receive $10,000 Wildman/Schumacher entering student scholarships, which may be renewable in subsequent years depending on academic performance. CSUN will begin recruiting students for the program this year. The first class is expected to enroll in fall of 2014, and the initial enrollment is expected to be up to 35 students drawn from any department at CSUN.

“This program provides us with another important avenue for encouraging promising undergraduate students from a wide range of backgrounds to pursue a legal education at Southwestern,” said Southwestern’s Dean Austen Parrish. “This is a natural partnership for our two schools, both having long-held extensive connections to Southern California. It is notable that there are more CSUN graduates serving in the Los Angeles-area judiciary than from any other undergraduate institution – a heritage that is similar to Southwestern’s. CSUN also sponsors an extensive judicial internship program for students with the LA County Superior Courts, as does Southwestern."

Dean Parrish pointed out that more than 2,000 CSUN students have gone on to pursue their legal education at Southwestern over the past few decades, and CSUN continues to consistently represent one of the top two undergraduate contingents in Southwestern’s entering classes.

Southwestern trustee Lauren Leichtman, Chief Executive Officer of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, is a prominent graduate of both Southwestern and CSUN and was honored with the CSUN Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010.

“I am so pleased to see this program launched,” she said. “My education at both institutions helped prepare me well for rewarding leadership positions in law, business and philanthropy, so I know this partnership represents a unique opportunity for outstanding CSUN students who want to earn their undergraduate and law degrees on an accelerated timeline.”

"This is truly a wonderful path for our students who know early on that they wish to pursue graduate education in law,” said Stella Theodoulou, Dean of CSUN’s College of Social and Behavioral Science. “A CSUN-Southwestern program is a significant extension of both institutions’ commitment to providing our students with a relevant educational experience so that they are competitive members of the region’s workforce and future leaders of California.”

As part of the 23-campus California State University system, California State University, Northridge (CSUN) is one of the largest universities in the nation, enrolling more than 38,000 full- and part-time students. CSUN has nine colleges and more than 2,000 faculty members who teach courses leading to bachelor’s degrees in 69 disciplines, master’s degrees in 58 fields and doctorates in educational leadership and physical therapy, as well as 28 teaching credential programs. Founded in 1958, CSUN is a vibrant and global community located on 356-acres in the heart of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. Its new Valley Performing Arts Center and Student Recreation Center attest to the campus’ commitment to providing students and the community with world-class, state-of-the-art cultural and academic facilities.

For more information and the program requirements, visit www.swlaw.edu/academics/jd/jointdegree.