Juris Doctor

The Juris Doctor (JD) is a professional degree awarded by the College of Law. The University of Iowa College of Law is approved by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association.

The first year of the JD program offers the personal connection and attention students need to develop a strong intellectual foundation for legal thinking and writing. The College of Law has one of the lowest student-to-faculty ratios of any law school. Professors have an open-door policy, and they serve as models for the kind of highly collaborative, rigorously professional behavior that prepares students to serve as counselor to their clients. Students get intensive, individualized instruction from legal writing faculty, the College of Law is one of the few law schools in the nation with a full-time faculty dedicated solely to a student's growth as a legal writer.

The College of Law requires applicants to submit at least two letters of recommendation.
For the CAS report, applicants are responsible for submitting an official transcript to LSAC from each college or university they have attended.The personal statement is required for all applicants. The application form contains complete instructions regarding the personal statement.

Applicants to the College of Law JD, 3+3, Kinnick Law, Advanced Standing JD for Foreign-Trained Lawyers, LLM, SJD, and MSL programs whose first language is not English must submit scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), except for those who:

have completed a bachelor's degree at an Accredited University in the U.S.,
have an equivalent degree from an accredited university in Australia, Canada (excluding Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom, or
submit acceptable alternative evidence of a high degree of proficiency in English.
JD, 3+3, Kinnick Law, MSL and Advanced Standing JD for Foreign-Trained Lawyers applicants must have a total score of 8.0 with no subscore less than 7.0.

JD, 3+3, Kinnick Law, and Advanced Standing JD for Foreign-Trained Lawyers applicants must have a minimum TOEFL score of 105 on the Internet-based test or 620 paper-based test.