Courses

Summer courses are intensive, three to four weeks in duration, offered in sequence. Completion of this program should allow students to meet all educational requirements to sit for the California Bar Exam. A minimum of 21 units is required for completion of the LL.M. degree. Course offerings for the two summer terms are as follows:

Initial summer term:

Second summer term:

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Costs

Summer term LL.M. tuition mirrors the prior academic year LL.M. semester tuition. The 2008-2009 academic year tuition fee is valued at $21,397.25 per semester; fees for 2009-2010 are not yet set and may increase. Please note: this program does not distinguish between in or out-of-state fees; as a result, there are no discounts for California residents. Financial aid is not available to Summer LL.M. program participants at this time.

Living expenses in the Bay Area are high. By university estimates, a single student should budget a minimum of approximately $1,900 per month. (Add $533 per month for a spouse accompanying a married student; add $333 a month for each dependent child accompanying the student.) These are minimum amounts that will provide only a very frugal living for a student. In planning your budget, please take account of your own spending patterns and of the possibility of unforeseen expenses.

Students accepted to the Summer LL.M program should anticipate expenses of approximately $1,500 for books and supplies (this figure is an estimate; each student's expenses for books and supplies will vary).

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Admission Requirements

Applicants must have completed a regular curriculum at an accredited college and law school, and must hold a professional degree from a law school by the time they begin the Summer LL.M. program at Berkeley Law. Applicants who attended foreign educational institutions must present satisfactory evidence of substantially equivalent academic training.

English language requirements: The university and the law school require Official Score Reports of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) before admitting an applicant whose primary language is not English. The minimum score required by the university is 600 on the paper TOEFL, 250 on the computerized version of the TOEFL, and 100 on the internet based test (IBT).

Although we do not expect all students who are not native English speakers to be perfectly fluent in English, it is clear that a student with serious language limitations will have great difficulty coping with a new cultural, social and academic environment.

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Visas

An admitted international student will normally come to the United States on an F-1 student visa or a J-1 exchange visitor visa. After you have been accepted and submitted your deposit, you will need to verify your funding for the academic year by returning a completed Confirmation of Financial Resources form to the Berkeley International Office. Once this form has been processed, you will receive a "Certificate of Eligibility" (I-20 or DS 2019) document to present at a U.S. embassy or consulate for a visa.

Timeline

The Summer LL.M. term runs from mid-May to mid-August, and enrollment in two consecutive summer terms is required. Only students enrolled in the Summer LL.M. Program may take summer term law classes.

    2009-2010 Summer LL.M. Program Timeline (tentative)

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