Combine your business degree with a graduate degree in Law or the Arts and Sciences

At the Wake Forest School of Business, you can blend your business curriculum with a degree in law or the arts and sciences to receive concurrent degrees in less total time.

Concurrent degrees offered with fellow Wake Forest graduate schools include:

• JD & MBA Degrees with the School of Law
• PhD & MBA Degrees with the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

Please note: Candidates for concurrent degree offerings must be accepted for admission by each school following its regular admissions process and according to the same standards as all other students.

Concurrent JD & MBA Degrees

Under an arrangement between the Wake Forest University School of Law and School of Business, students may pursue a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree while completing their final year of the Juris Doctor (JD). This arrangement offers students the opportunity to complete a stand-alone three-year JD and a stand-alone 20-month MBA in four academic years. Students admitted to both degree programs will have a broader range of learning and networking opportunities. In addition, graduates with both degrees — because of their understanding of both law and business — will have additional flexibility in making career choices.

Pursuant to each school’s normal process for evaluating transfer credits, the law school will accept up to 15 credits of approved MBA course work as transfer credits toward the JD degree, and the business school will accept up to 9 credits of approved JD course work as transfer elective credits toward the MBA degree.  Graduation from both schools will happen, except in special circumstances, after completing four years of course work.

The typical sequence of study, with anticipated opportunities for law internships and employment, is as follows:

          * Contributes toward total “work experience” in MBA admissions consideration
          ** Summer 3 law internship and/or AY4 law employment, if any, would be local

Students interested in earning each degree must apply separately to the law school and to the business school, and be accepted by each school. Application for admission to the MBA program may be made at any time before the student’s 3L year.

Tuition for each degree is charged separately by each school – except for the third “shared” year when the student is enrolled part-time in the law school and full-time in the business school for evening sessions 1 and 2. During this “shared” year, students will be charged JD tuition, less any applicable law scholarship, with the two schools sharing net tuition. Otherwise, concurrent-degrees students will be charged JD tuition (less any law scholarship) during their 1L and 2L years, and MBA tuition (less any business school scholarship) during their evening sessions 3, 4 and 5.

Law School Requirements

Requirements for the JD degree (as well as information regarding School of Law program format, schedule, curriculum, and contact information) may be found at Wake Forest Law.

Concurrent PhD & MBA Program

Under an arrangement between the Wake Forest University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and School of Business, students may pursue a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree and doctoral (PhD) degree in their chosen field of study. Candidates spend the first two years taking course work in their PhD program, and begin their MBA studies during the third year, taking classes in the School of Business In-Person MBA program on the Winston-Salem campus. Progression into the MBA program is contingent upon successful completion of the qualifying exams administered by the student’s program of graduate study and upon passing into doctoral candidacy. Students admitted to both degree programs will experience a broader range of learning, networking opportunities and career flexibility.

Program Details

* For complete curriculum and course descriptions, please refer to the current edition of the School of Business Graduate Student Handbook.

Application Process

Concurrent PhD and MBA students must be recommended from the administration of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Wake Forest University. Candidates for concurrent degree programs must be accepted by both schools. Please follow the In-Person MBA program application process when applying for admission to the MBA program. More information on available doctoral programs and the application process can be found at the Wake Forest Graduate School PhD/MBA Program.

Contact

For more information about concurrent degree opportunities, please contact the Executive Director of the MBA program.