The Texas A&M University School of Law’s Master of Legal Studies program has seen a dramatic increase in enrollment, rising from around 100 students in 2019 to 1,100 this year—a 1,000% increase.
The surge of students places the program among the nation’s largest and most quickly growing, reported the Fort Worth Report.
The Master of Legal Studies (MLS) program offers specialized legal knowledge needed in highly regulated industries like oil and gas, real estate, and healthcare. The two-year program offers over a dozen specialized tracks and can be completed online at a cost of about $35,000. This flexibility caters to the needs of working professionals who may have busy schedules during the day and seek to enhance their legal expertise without also committing to a costly law degree.
“What does the hospital administrator or a nurse who’s leading a team need to know about data privacy or health information? What do they need to know about billing and coding? What do they need to read? There’s complex legal rules on a lot of this,” David Dye, the assistant dean of graduate programs at the law school, told the FWR, explaining the value of the MLS program in today’s job market.
When asked about the unique value of the law school’s MLS program, Texas A&M’s professors point out the changing needs in America’s legal job sector.
“We don’t need [students] to ‘think like a lawyer.’ If you want to think like a lawyer, go to law school. We want them to understand the impact of regulations and laws and how they impact [the company]. How [the company] has to protect itself,” Paul DeWitte, an adjunct professor at the law school, told the FWR.
Since joining the Texas A&M University System in 2013, the law school has transformed from an unranked institution to ranking No.26 in the nation, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. Texas A&M Law School Dean Bobby Ahdieh said that students and faculty alike are dedicated to creating a better program with the ultimate goal of making it into the top 10 and overtaking UT Austin — currently No.16 — as the best program in Texas.
“When I worked to acquire this law school a decade ago, even I did not dream it would move up in the rankings this fast,” Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp said in a news release obtained by the FWR.
The MLS program is expected to move to the law school’s new 3.5-acre campus in downtown Fort Worth.