The Two-Year Extended LLM is offered on a full-time basis only and students may begin in the fall semester. During the first year, you will take 19 units of mandatory law courses and up to 4 units of coursework in Academic and Professional Writing or Speaking Skills. During the second year, you must successfully complete the required academic units for your selected LLM over two semesters. A cumulative LAW GPA of 2.6 or higher is required to earn each of the Certificate in U.S. Legal Studies (for the first year) and an LLM degree (for the second year).
Students admitted to the Two-Year Extended LLM may not transfer to the one-year LLM after the start of their first-year certificate program. If you are deciding between the Two-Year LLM and a one-year LLM degree, please contact an advisor so we can assist you with selecting the academic program best suited for your needs prior to enrollment.
The first year follows a set schedule of classes, listed below. The LAW courses are graded on a numeric basis, except for Fundamentals of Legal Writing A and B and Legal Research, which are automatically graded credit/no credit (CR/NC). You must earn a cumulative GPA of 2.6 in your LAW courses and receive credit in your American Language Institute (ALI) classes to earn the Certificate in U.S. Legal Studies.
Upon arrival to USC, your English proficiency will be assessed and you will enroll in Academic and Professional Writing or Speaking Skills courses through USC's American Language Institute (ALI). This coursework will prepare you to participate meaningfully in your law classes. Please note that these courses are mandatory unless you receive a waiver, which will be determined by ALI at the time of your assessment.
In the second year of your program, you may elect to enroll in any of our master of laws degrees, including the General LLM, LLM in Alternative Dispute Resolution, LLM in Business Law, LLM in International Business and Economic Law, LLM in Media and Entertainment Law, or LLM in Privacy Law and Cybersecurity. Please note that you must complete 21 units for the LLM or 24 units for the specialized LLM degrees during the second year; you may not apply Legal Research, Contracts, and Introduction to U.S. Legal System towards that unit requirement. Please note that Contracts cannot be used to count toward a certificate requirement during the second year of the program.
You will find our course offerings on the USC Schedule of Classes.
The certificate options available to you during the LLM year will vary depending on which LLM you select.
In some circumstances, you may enroll in courses outside of the law school, for example in the USC School of Cinematic Arts or the USC Marshall School of Business. However, courses taken outside the law school will not count toward the LLM degree.
We can assist you with choosing courses that help prepare you to sit for the California, District of Columbia (D.C.), New York, Texas, or Washington state bar exams. Students who complete the Certificate in U.S. Legal Studies may use the Legal Research, Contracts, and Introduction to U.S. Legal Systems to satisfy part of the course requirements to be eligible for the bar exam in some U.S. jurisdictions. Please see the Career and Bar page for more information.
Please note that enrollment in an LLM does not guarantee that you will be eligible to sit for a U.S. bar exam. Only the bar administrators of that jurisdiction can confirm your eligibility for that state’s bar exam.
