Value of an Undergraduate Certificate
Are you interested in enhancing your studies with an undergraduate certificate? In addition to major areas of study, UTSA offers a variety of programs that provide valuable contributions to students' academic careers. While pursuing a certificate, students have the opportunity to explore personal interests and passions outside of their major program or complement their current major, helping them further stand out in the job market.
Why Pursue a Certificate in Legal Studies?
The coursework, hands-on learning, and connections this certificate program offers prepares students to excel in law school and a legal career.
Students hone their analytical and logic reasoning, critical reading and thinking, and writing and research skills. It offers exposure to the field of law through a combination of coursework and experiential learning opportunities.
With a multidisciplinary approach that allows students to bring different education, insights, and skills to law school, the certificate entails 15 credit hours from a diverse range of subjects. Legal education values different points of view which students will bring to the classroom.
Apply Certificate Courses to Your Degree
One of the added benefits of the Certificate in Legal Studies is the ability to apply courses from this program to a BA or BS degree. Depending on program requirements, and with approval of the undergraduate advisor of record of the degree program, you may be able to apply coursework taken for this certificate directly to your major area of study.
Summer Law School Preparation Academy (SLSPA)
Learn if law school is the right fit for you with the Summer Law School Prep Academy. The SLSPA is designed to prepare students for success on the LSAT and in their legal career. SLSPA students have secured acceptances to and enrolled in over 160 law schools throughout the country.
Students who enroll in the SLSPA are able to complete 12 of the 15 credit hours and then can finish this certificate with a 3-credit internship course.
What you’ll study
Students must complete 15 semester credit hours of a combination of required and elective courses that help them gain knowledge and develop skills across the following topics:
- Logic and problem-solving
- Critical reading
- Writing and editing
- Oral communication
- Research
- Organization and management
- Public service and promotion of justice
- Relationship-building and collaboration
- Background knowledge
- Exposure to the law
This program requires three 3-credit courses on logic, legal writing, and legal internship, and two 3-credit elective classes that range from Philosophy and Economics to Business, English, Global Affairs, Sociology, History, Psychology, Criminal Justice, Political Science, and many other courses.
The internship requirement for students in the certificate program offers course credit and hands-on learning experiencing interning at law firms, in the legal office of government, or in the legal department of businesses or non-profit organizations.
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Some of the elective courses that count toward the certificate require prerequisites but the required courses do not.
Students must fill out a form requesting to pursue the certificate and have it signed by the Certificate Program Advisor and the Associate Dean of University College. It is the student’s responsibility to apply for the certificate by completing the Application for Certificate form and submitting it to UTSA via the Document Uploader
Adding a Certificate
Add On to Your Major - recommended path
Currently enrolled in a bachelor's degree program and looking to enhance your degree with an undergraduate certificate? Contact the Certificate Program Advisor listed below, and request permission to enter into the program. Approval to enter into a certificate program must be granted by the Certificate Program Advisor and the Dean of the college in which the certificate program is housed.
Not currently pursuing an undergraduate degree at UTSA but interested in an undergraduate certificate program? You can apply as a non-degree seeking student. Prospective students must apply for admission to UTSA as non-degree seeking and indicate on their application their interest in an undergraduate certificate. Prospective students are required to meet UTSA's admission requirements for special students at the undergraduate level. Once admitted, students can contact the Certificate Program Advisor listed below, and request permission to enter into their desired program. Approval to enter into a certificate program must be granted by the Certificate Program Advisor and the Dean of the college in which the certificate program is housed.
