Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) at University of Iowa

Programme overview

The Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) program is intended for students who wish to conduct original and advanced legal research in law under faculty supervision.

Faculty: College of Law | Location: Iowa City, IA, United States

What you will study

The Doctor of Juridical Science program includes five requirements for earning the SJD degree. Students must complete 18 s.h. of credit during their first year of residency; students who have not earned an LLM degree complete 24 s.h.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

To be admitted to the SJD program, students typically first complete the LLM degree at the University of Iowa or a similar master's-level degree at another law school, either in the United States or at an English-language law school with academic standards equivalent to those of highly ranked United States LLM programs. In appropriate circumstances, the admissions committee will consider applications from excellent students without an English-language master’s-level degree who wish to proceed directly to work on their SJD degree. All applicants must show strong evidence of scholarly research and writing abilities. For more information, visit the SJD application process website. Learn More and Apply 2026-2027 Edition

Tuition is charged per credit, so the total depends on the modules you register for each year. Current fees are listed in the official fee schedule.

Graduate and professional admission requirements, costs and deadlines are set by each degree programme; applicants apply through the Admissions Profile application and may apply to only one programme unless applying to a combined degree programme.

Apply through the official page: https://admissions.uiowa.edu/

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