Joint Degrees
The J.D./Master's Degree
The Graduate School and the Law School participate in a joint-degree program in which, upon completion, students are awarded a JD/MA or JD/MS. The following Graduate School departments/programs offer the joint degree: Art History, Biomedical Engineering, Classics, Cultural Anthropology, East Asian Studies, Economics, Electrical and Computer Engineering, English, Environment, History, Humanities, Literature, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Philosophy, Political Science, Religion, Romance Studies, and Psychology: Social and Health Sciences. A joint JD, MEM, MBA, or MD with a MASTER of PUBLIC POLICY program is also available. For more detais, click here.
Application Procedures
Students apply for the JD/MA/MS program through the Law School. Once the Law School Admissions Committee has approved admission, the applicant's file is forwarded to the Graduate School department for an admission decision. Candidates must be admitted to both schools in order to enroll in the joint-degree program. Applicants are notified of both admission decisions at the same time. All joint-degree applicants must take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), but are not required to take the General Record Examination (GRE). Students normally enter this program in the summer before their first year of Law School.
Late Applicants: Currently enrolled students wishing to apply to the Joint JD/MA/MS program must do so no later than April 15 of the second semester of the first year. A student applying for late entry into the joint-degree program must:
- Have the Law School submit a complete, confidential dossier of the original Law School application to the Graduate School.
- Complete the standard Graduate School application forms and complete a personal essay.
- Pay a $75 application fee.
- Provide an official, confidential copy of the Law School transcript (if a semester of Law School has been completed at the time of application).
The GRE requirement will still be waived for students applying by April 15 of their first year in Law School. Students who apply late to the joint-degree program may need to stay in Law School an additional semester in order to complete all requirements.
Very Late Applications: Once beyond April 15 of the first year of Law School, students are not eligibile to be official participants of the joint-degree program. However, such students may still apply to a regular master's program. The applicant must:
- Have the Law School submit a complete, confidential dossier of the original Law School application to the Graduate School.
- Complete the standard Graduate School application forms and complete a personal essay.
- Pay a $75 application fee.
- Provide an official, confidential copy of the Law School transcript (if a semester of Law School has been completed at the time of application).
- Provide at least one current, confidential letter of recommendation.
Students participating in this way will receive concurrent but not joint degrees. There is no reduction in tuition or forwarding of tuition and fees from the Law School to the Graduate School. There is also no reduction in the course credit requirements of either school. Receipt of either degree is not dependent upon the other. For further information and/or other requirements involved with very late applications, please contact the Graduate School Enrollment Services Office at (919) 684-3913.
Coursework
The flexibility of the joint-degree program is partnered with a strong foundation in basic legal education. First year joint-degree students complete the same core curriculum required of other first-year students. By starting at the Law School the summer before other first-year students, joint-degree students are able to complete a significant portion of the required courses for the master's degree in their first year.
JD/Master's Degree Requirements
JD/Master's Degree students are required to complete 72 Law School credits (a reduction from the 84 credits required for a regular JD student). They must also register for 30 credits in the Graduate School, though the actual number of graded courses varies by department, plus complete a master's exam. Master's students must maintain continuous registration and pay a "continuation fee" each semester they are in the program, whether or not they are registered for units of credit.
Like all other master's students, joint JD/MA/MS students must maintain continuous registration within the Graduate School and take a master's exam. Again, some departments have a thesis or paper requirement. The Graduate School also requires submission of the Intent to Receive Degree Form and a "Master's Thesis Examination Card" (which requires a formal thesis format check in the Graduate School) or the "Non-Thesis Master's Examination Card" by the published deadline during the semester in which the student is graduating. If these items are not submitted by the deadline, students will be unable to graduate.
Joint Degrees are Interdependent
Students should note that joint degrees are interdependent. If the full requirements of both degrees are not met, the student will not receive either degree.
Tuition
Tuition for the summer term is about two-thirds of the amount for a Law School semester. After that, students pay the regular Law School tuition each semester. The Law School then transfers some of these funds to the Graduate School to cover expenses for the 30 credit hours necessary to complete the master's degree. Students registering for more than 30 hours in the Graduate School (either due to interest in the subjects or because of incompletes or failing grades in Graduate School courses) must pay for these additional credit hours themselves.
The J.D./Ph.D.
At the present time, the only formal JD/PhD program available is with the Department of Political Science. Others may be available on an ad hoc basis. Students wishing to apply to the JD/PhD program will also enter in the summer preceding the first year of Law School and follow the normal path of the joint-degree master's students. After receiving the JD/Master's degree at the end of their third year, they will then proceed as full-time doctoral students in the relevant department of the Graduate School.
Applicants for the JD/Ph.D. must apply separately to the Law School and the Graduate School. Students who apply directly and successfully to the J.D./Ph.D. program will be admitted into both programs from the date of their matriculation at Duke, even though they will initially be pursuing the joint JD/master's degree en route to the subsequent Ph.D. It is expected that once they have completed their initial three years of study, students will subsequently register soley in the doctoral program and have access to the normal mechanisms of financial support available to other Ph.D. students in the relevant departments. (Some departments may permit JD/PhD students to begin their teaching assistant experience while still in Law School.) In most instances, completion of the Ph.D. should take no more than 3 years beyond receipt of the JD/master's degree.
The M.D./Ph.D.
The Medical Scientist Training Program, conducted under the auspices of the Graduate School and the School of Medicine, is designed for students with a strong background in science who are motivated toward a career in the medical sciences and academic medicine. It provides an opportunity to integrate graduate education in one of the sciences basic to medicine with the clinical curriculum of the School of Medicine. The program usually requires six to seven years of study and leads to both the M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. Although the special emphasis of this program is on basic medical science, the trainees, because of their education in clinical medicine, have a remarkable range of career opportunities open to them. Graduates of this program generally follow one of two broad paths. Some directly pursue careers in teaching and research in one of the basic medical sciences, while maintaining strong ties with clinical science as a result of their combined training; others enter residency programs before pursuing investigative and teaching careers in clinical medicine, carrying with them strong academic backgrounds in the basic sciences.
Eligibility
Applicants must meet the admission requirements of both the Graduate School as a candidate for the Ph.D. degree and the School of Medicine as a candidate for the M.D. degree. Most candidates apply for admission to the first year of the program, but applications are sometimes accepted from students who are enrolled in appropriate stages of their curriculum in the Graduate School or School of Medicine of Duke University. In addition to the minimum requirements for acceptance in the Graduate School and the School of Medicine, advanced course work in science and mathematics as well as prior research experience count heavily in the selection of candidates.
Financial Support
Students admitted to the first year of the program can receive a traineeship award, consisting of a stipend and full tuition allowance, provided by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. The present annual stipend is $17,650. Current policy of the National Institutes of Health limits the duration of the traineeship to six years, but the years need not be consecutive; this permits curricula which take more than six years. For those students requiring more than six years, the department and/or preceptor of the student provides support for additional years in training.
This traineeship, created by the National Research Service Award Act of 1974 (PL 93-348) provides (as do all research training awards under this act) for certain alternate service or payback requirements in the event that a research career is not pursued. Support by the NIH under the National Research Service Award Act requires the recipient to be a citizen or resident of the United States.
The Training Program
This program has been designed to offer trainees latitude in the selection of course material. Basic requirements are two academic years composed of the first basic science year and the second clinical science year of the curriculum for medical students at Duke University. Following completion of the second year, the trainee enters the graduate program to complete the requirements for the Ph.D. degree. A final academic year of elective clinical study is necessary to complete the requirements for the M.D. degree. Both degrees are awarded at the completion of this sequence.
MSTP and M.D./Ph.D. students have the option of pursuing two different routes to graduation from Duke University. The first option is to be awarded the Ph.D. as soon as all requirements for that degree have been completed and before formal completion of the M.D. In order to implement this option students must sit for the final defense, submit to the library the final copies of the dissertation, and file, with the Graduate School, an Intention to Receive Degree form by the announced deadline for the semester in which they wish to receive the degree. (Please note that exercising this option precludes students from participating in a later Ph.D. ceremony.)
The second option is to be awarded both the Ph.D. and the M.D. at the same Commencement. Students exercising this option must, after completing their final defenses, submit the final copies of the dissertation to the library, which will notify the Graduate School of the completion of this requirement. Students will not, however, file an Intention to Receive Degree form with the Graduate School until the semester in which they complete the M.D. (Please note that exercising this option places the burden of remembering to file the Intention to Receive Degree form with the individual student, not with the doctoral program or department or with the Graduate School.)
Additional information may be obtained by contacting Medical Scientist Training Program, Dr. Dona M. Chikaraishi, Associate Director, Box 3209 Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, 919-684-2412, or MSTP@duke.edu.