Penn State University – Penn State Dickinson Law

Penn State Dickinson Law offers a flexible, 24-credit LL.M. program designed to give students a high-level understanding of the U.S. legal system. Students must earn a minimum of 24 credits and complete the following courses:

• LL.M Legal Research (1 Cr.)
• LL.M. Legal Writing (2 Cr.)
• Intro. to the U.S. Legal System (2 Cr.)

Additionally, students must enroll in one course from the following list:

• Civil Procedure (4 Cr.)   
• Constitutional Law I (3 Cr.)
• Contracts (4 Cr.)              
• Criminal Law (3 Cr.)   
• Property (4 Cr.)                
• Torts (4 Cr.)
• Criminal Procedure (3 Cr.)

Students may stay for a third semester with the intent of completing an experiential learning program or preparing for a U.S. bar exam.

LL.M. students may enroll in a rich array of courses offered in the law school curriculum, including a focused course of study in one of the specialized fields below:

• Arbitration, Mediation, and Negotiation
• Business Law
• Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Criminal Law and Procedure
• Cyber Law, Data Privacy, and Information Security
• Elder Law
• Government Law & Policy
• Health Law and Policy
• Intellectual Property and Innovation
• International Trial Advocacy
• Organizing for Social Justice
• Public Interest Law
• Security Law
• Tax Law
• Trial Advocacy and Litigation

For more information, please see LL.M. Curriculum | Dickinson Law (psu.edu)

Penn State University is a tier one research university consistently ranked among the top 1% of universities in the world.  Ranked among the nation’s best law schools, Penn State Dickinson Law is the oldest law school in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and one of the oldest in the United States. For 188 years, Dickinson Law has produced some of the world’s finest attorneys, judges, government and corporate leaders, and legal educators.   

Throughout its rich 40-year history of offering the LL.M. Program, Dickinson Law has welcomed students from around the world who have come to advance their careers by studying with our distinguished faculty.  See our LL.M. viewbook. 

Attend an upcoming LL.M. Open House to learn more about Penn State Dickinson Law and our LL.M. program.

To learn more about the LL.M. Program at Penn State's Dickinson Law, visit LL.M. Admissions or contact:

Dr. Anthony C. Ogden
Director, International Programs and Graduate Education
Penn State Dickinson Law
Phone: 717.241-3532
Email: dickinsongraded@psu.edu

Penn State Dickinson Law

Dickinson Law’s historic campus has been completely renovated and rebuilt to bring together students, staff, and faculty. Certified as environmentally friendly and boasting one of the largest green roofs in Pennsylvania, Lewis Katz Hall is a state-of-the-art facility featuring classrooms and seminar rooms, a moot courtroom with a 200-seat observatory, and a legislative hearing room. The H. Laddie Montague Jr. Law Library at Dickinson Law is a modern research facility offering law-related resources and a wide range of services that support the Law School’s curriculum and the advancement of legal scholarship. All classrooms are equipped with sophisticated audiovisual technology that allows students and professors to communicate in real time with colleagues and professionals around the world.

Penn State's Dickinson Law students learn from a distinctive and dedicated full-time faculty complemented by an adjunct faculty of practicing attorneys and judges. Significantly, all full-time faculty members have spent years practicing law, and they continue to engage nationally and internationally with the legal profession through pro bono litigation, mediation, advisory committees, and scholarship.

The faculty believes that their scholarly and teaching missions should be complementary. As engaged scholars, they accept that having a solid understanding of theory is indispensable to our students' ability to operate as legal professionals in an increasingly global, diverse, and sophisticated legal environment.

Click here to learn more about our accomplished faculty. 

To be considered for admission, applicants must meet the following requirements:

Academic Requirement: Either a U.S. J.D. from an ABA approved law school OR the equivalent to the United States JD from a foreign law school.  Applicants should be licensed to practice law or have significant experience in legal practice.

Applicants are expected to present all postsecondary education, including work completed prior to and after the law degree. Any omission of required education history could delay the review of your credentials and LSAC’s report to Dickinson Law.

Language Requirement:  Applicants for whom English is a native language or who have received an academic degree from a college or university whose language of instruction is English meet the language requirement.  For applicants who do not possess a JD from an ABA approved law school, are not native English speakers, and have not received a degree form a college or university whose language of instruction is English, a TOEFL or IELTS score that meets Dickinson Law’s minimum requirements is required.

Penn State Dickinson Law does not assess an application fee.  Completed applications are usually reviewed within 2-3 business days.

Penn State Dickinson Law takes a holistic approach to admission by considering accomplishments beyond test scores and college grades. When reviewing applications, the law school values life and work experience, leadership, community service, advanced degrees, and other personal and professional accomplishments. Please note that admission to the LL.M. Program at Dickinson Law is highly selective.

To apply to the LL.M. Program, complete the steps below:

1. Create an LSAC LL.M. account and register for the LLM Credential Assembly Service.
2. Submit your application and required materials through your LLM account by selecting the electronic application for The Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson Law (Carlisle, PA).

For reference, here are the materials needed to complete your application through LSAC:

• Personal statement
• Résumé or CV
• Transcripts. Applicants must submit official transcripts and translations through the LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service.
• Proof of English proficiency or waiver request. Applicants must submit a score report from TOEFL (recommended minimum of 88) or IELTS (recommended minimum of 6.5). A waiver is available for students who received a degree from an educational institution in a country where English is the language of instruction or an official or native language.
• Letters of recommendation (optional)

The LL.M. Admissions Committee reviews completed applications on an ongoing basis. While most students seek to enroll in the fall semester (August), Dickinson Law also offers the option of beginning the LL.M. Program in the spring semester (January).

Penn State Dickinson Law does not assess an application fee.  Completed applications are usually reviewed within 2-3 business days.

Visit our website for more information on admission and application instructions. 

For the most current information about Dickinson Law's tuition and fees, please visit the website below: Financial Aid and Scholarships | Dickinson Law 

All LL.M. applicants are considered for merit-based scholarships, including up to 50 percent+ of tuition to exceptionally qualified admitted students.

There are also a number of government and private scholarship opportunities available to prospective LL.M. students applying to Dickinson Law. Learn more about outside scholarships here.

Carlisle, PA continuously ranks as one of the country's most livable small towns due in part to the diversity of the people and institutions, amenities, and array of community activities. The cost of living consistently rates below the U.S. average, making it an affordable, cost-efficient option for attending law school. Generally, everything you need is within easy walking or biking distance. In fact, most students find reasonably priced housing close to the Law School for just that reason.

As a springboard to nearby major legal markets and networking opportunities on the East Coast, you'll find that you're close to policy makers and professionals who will be ready collaborators.

Beyond our campus sits a region of unparalleled beauty and culture. Known for its historic charm, Carlisle features our valued neighbors, Dickinson College and the U.S. Army War College; a variety of restaurants, shops, and galleries; an independent movie theater; a downtown farmers market; and much more.

If you need a big city fix, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Baltimore, and New York City are all easily accessible by car or train.

While on-campus housing is not available, Dickinson Law keeps a housing list available for students to utilize in order to secure nearby housing.

Penn State Dickinson Law is as committed to welcoming people of diverse cultures and lifestyles as we are to preparing them to become the next generation of practice-ready attorneys.

As an inclusive community, Dickinson Law defines diversity broadly to include racial and ethnic minorities, women, the differently-abled, members of the LGBTQ community, veterans, first-generation students, adult learners, and any others who have experienced subordination, marginalization, or isolation in academic communities because of their identity status.

We are delighted to support a variety of student affinity organizations such as BLSA (the Black Law Students Association), LLSA (the Latino/a Law Student Association), APALSA (the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association), and OutLaw (the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender student organization).

Dickinson Law has recently launched an International Law Society to offer students the opportunity to advance the study, research and exploration of international law.   

Moreover, Dickinson Law's core courses integrate diverse perspectives and examine the relevance of diversity to law, legal process, and practice. Through the law school's curricular offerings and its extracurricular activities, Dickinson Law students are able to develop cultural competencies and better understand minority viewpoints.