Pepperdine Caruso Law Offers Reduced Master's Degree Tuition for Seaver College Class of 2020
Pepperdine Caruso Law is offering reduced tuition to all Seaver graduates of 2020 who enroll in the Fall term of its online Masters of Legal Studies or Masters of Dispute Resolution programs. These programs are for graduates seeking a background in the law and alternate dispute resolution, but who are not ready to commit to a Juris Doctorate program or do not intend to practice law. Our online programs were designed for delivery online and are taught by faculty experienced in online learning.
Pepperdine Caruso Law launched its first online graduate degree, a brand new Master of Legal Studies in 2017. Experiencing tremendous success in its first year, the law school followed up the MLS degree with a Master of Dispute Resolution degree. The MDR was already available to resident students at Seaver College and Graziadio, as well as Juris Doctor students at the law school, but launching it online gave more opportunities to students around the globe or with jobs and families they could not uproot for graduate school. All told the law school enrolls over 500 students in its online programs, each from wildly diverse backgrounds. What they all share, however, is a vision for using a graduate law degree for their careers--just not in a traditional lawyer role.
Pepperdine Caruso Law's Assistant Dean of Strategic Initiatives, Jason Jarvis, who serves as dean of the online programs, notes that the breadth of student outcomes is one of the most compelling things about the program. "We have students from all walks of life and industries. We have medical faculty at major research teaching hospitals, CEOs of corporations, HR Managers, teachers, retirees, and recent college graduates. Our professors are constantly amazed and impressed by the diversity of background in the classroom and students end up learning as much from each other as from the professors." When asked about the transition to online learning all colleges have gone through this Spring, Dean Jarvis notes Pepperdine Caruso Law has been doing it all along. "These are definitely uncharted waters for everyone's health and safety, and uncertain times for jobs and the economy and I don't want to minimize that. But we have been teaching online classes online for years. These aren't classes designed for in person delivery jury-rigged for online delivery, our online programs were designed from the ground up to be delivered in an online format. That makes our professors experts in online teaching and our students experts in online learning."
As to why now is the right time for a graduate degree, Dean Jarvis warns, "You still need to be excited about the law. There are a million ways to use a law degree even without taking the bar exam, but students should have a plan, whether that's personal growth or something more specific in the many businesses where a legal background is critical."
Finally, when asked why the school of law is offering such a large guaranteed scholarship to Seaver graduates at this time, Dean Jarvis, a Seaver ('95) and Pepperdine Caruso Law (JD '03) graduate, said it succinctly: "We love Pepperdine students. If we can help them in any way to weather the current storm and still provide a world class legal education, we want to do it."
Information on the program and reduced tuition may be found here