Academic Calendar

Review the Concord Law School Academic Calendar for important dates, including term start and end dates, withdrawal deadlines, and official school holidays.

Concord records its courses in semester credit hours.

Definition of a Unit of Credit

Concord Law School defines a credit hour as the reasonable equivalent of fifteen hours of documented in-class activity (face-to-face classroom instruction and/or academically engaged activity in a virtual classroom) and thirty hours of documented out-of-class activity, combined to total forty-five hours for sixteen weeks for one semester hour of credit.

Academically engaged and documented activity in a virtual classroom includes, but is not limited to, such examples as time spent: participating in seminars and discussion threads, completing exams/quizzes, reviewing recorded lectures, completing skills-related assessments such as legal research and writing and other professional project work, and participating in interactive simulations/exercises.

Out-of-class documented activity includes, but is not limited to, such examples as time spent in: reading course-related material, research, team work, study time, and tutoring.

Attendance

Purdue Global courses are designed with you in mind and, as such, offer multiple ways of engaging with the course material, the faculty, and classmates. To succeed in any course, you should expect to be actively engaged by completing assignments on time and participating in any discussion boards, seminars, and other features designed to enrich your learning. The expectation is that you will be active in your course(s) each week.

Your official attendance record will update only when you submit coursework, like an assignment, a discussion board post, a quiz, or other graded activity in the Brightspace Learning Management System (LMS). Other activities, like reading course material or viewing a seminar, will not update your attendance record. This is an important consideration as sustained nonattendance has negative implications both in terms of your learning and overall course performance. It may also result in withdrawal and other actions.

If you travel to or relocate outside of the U.S. to countries or regions subject to economic and/or trade sanctions by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) or other authorities, you may be unable to access the Purdue Global campus, services, and courses. See Sanctioned Countries in the Accreditation, Approvals, and Memberships section of the Catalog for more details.

Refer to the Withdrawal policy for information about withdrawal due to nonattendance.

Leave of Absence

If you have completed at least one term of your degree program at Concord Law School and can demonstrate extenuating circumstances beyond your control, you may request a leave of absence. A leave generally permits you to suspend studies and return to the version of the program that you left.

You must complete and sign a Leave of Absence Request Form and submit it through the Office of Student Support for approval. As appropriate, provide documentation to support your request. If you are seeking a leave of absence in the middle of a term, there may be impacts to your funding; therefore, you should speak with the Student Finance Office prior to submitting the leave request.

You may request up to one period of leave per calendar year. A leave may be no less than four weeks to no more than one complete term in duration, though your return date will be dependent on course and term scheduling and availability.

If you request and receive approval for a leave of absence effective before the completion of a term, you will receive a “W” for each attended course at the start of the leave. You are strongly encouraged to register for those courses again in your returning term. 

If you are an active-duty servicemember, in the National Guard or Reserves, or are a military family member, you may take a military leave of absence for a period of up to 12 months. You may also have the option to renew this status one time for up to a total of 24 months of leave; however, if you exercise this option, you will return to the version of the degree program in effect at the time of your return.

If you do not return to class by the scheduled date and later choose to return to Concord Law School, you will need to reapply for admission to return to the current version of the program. If you are on a leave of absence, it might impact your financial aid. Please note that your lender entitles you to a 6-month grace period before entering repayment on your student loans. If you have already exhausted your student loan grace period, you will enter loan repayment immediately.

Withdrawal

Add/Drop Policy for Courses

After the term begins, you will have a 7-day add/drop period in which to add or drop courses without penalties. Additionally, any course in which you do not post attendance by the twenty-first day of the term will administratively be removed from your schedule.

Withdrawal from individual courses after the add/drop period is at the discretion of Concord, may be subject to conditions, and you will incur 100 percent financial responsibility for the course. For courses withdrawn after the add/drop period, a grade of “W” will be posted. Course withdrawals are not permitted in the last 28 days of the term.

If you enrolled in the JD program prior to Concord being granted accreditation by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California, you are responsible for ensuring that you are carrying sufficient credit hours for a qualifying half-year or year of law study, as required by the State Bar of California.

Requesting to Withdraw from the University

Circumstances sometimes require that you withdraw from the School. If your situation warrants withdrawal, please first refer to the Refund Policy and then follow the steps below:

1. Meet with your Student Advisor via telephone or electronically to discuss your decision to withdraw. We will seek to make reasonable efforts to assist you in continuing your education.
2. Once you have officially notified your Student Advisor of your intent to withdraw, you should meet with a representative of the Student Finance Office only if you intend to withdraw in the middle of a term. They can answer questions regarding financial obligations to the School and student loan repayment responsibilities. Refer to the Refund Policy for specific calculation information.
3. If you are using veterans benefits and withdraw from the School, a notice of termination of enrollment will be sent to Veterans Affairs.
4. A request to withdraw from the University during a term will result in “W” grades for all attended courses, except during the final 28 days of a term when “F” grades will be posted. 

If you withdraw from the School and wish to return, you must apply for readmission following the Application for Readmission procedures for Concord. 

Withdrawal Due to Nonattendance

Attendance has important effects on your enrollment status at the School:

• If you do not log attendance within any of the classes in your schedule at the end of the twelfth day of the term, you will be administratively withdrawn from your program.
• If you do not log attendance in any of your classes for 21 consecutive calendar days (excluding scheduled breaks during or between terms), you will be administratively withdrawn from your program. 
  Please note that while scheduled breaks themselves are not counted, the 21 days are counted across terms and are not reset with each new term. For example, if your last attendance in a term is 11 days before the term has ended, you must attend by the 10th day of the new term to avoid being withdrawn from the School, as the 11 days from the prior term and 10 days from the new term would equal a total of 21 days of nonattendance.
• If you are withdrawn due to nonattendance, grades of “W” will be posted for your attended courses, except when the period of nonattendance occurs in the last 28 days of the term when “F” grades will be posted.

If you are withdrawn due to nonattendance, you must apply for readmission following the Application for Readmission procedures for Concord.

Transfer Credit

Transfer Credit for Prior Law Studies

You must complete at least one-half of the program requirements at Concord to qualify for the degree. No credit is offered for experiential learning (work experience).

JD Students

All credit transfers will be made in compliance with the requirements of Title IV, Division 1 of the Rules of the State Bar of California (Admission Rules), and Guidelines for Accredited Law Schools Rule 5.7 and 5.8. (For students who enrolled into Concord’s JD program prior to Concord being granted accreditation by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California, all credit transfers will be made in compliance with the requirements of Title IV, Division 1 of the Rules of the State Bar of California (Admission Rules) and Guidelines for Unaccredited Law Schools Rule 5.35.) Concord reserves the right to use its discretion not to award transfer credit to the maximum amount allowed by the Rules and Guidelines.

Credit will ordinarily be granted only for whole courses completed within the thirty-six (36) calendar months prior to the date the student begins their studies at Concord, unless the student qualified for an exemption from the First-Year Law Students’ Examination (FYLSE) because they successfully completed the first year at an accredited law school. 

Credit may be granted only for courses in which the applicant received a grade at the good standing level or higher from the awarding law school. However, in the case of an applicant who has passed the FYLSE, Concord may consider acknowledging the credit previously granted for each completed course in Torts, Criminal Law, and Contracts, even if the grade was less than would be required for good standing.

Concord will not grant credit for a course completed at the prior law school in excess of the number of units Concord would award for a course with the same number of classroom or participatory hours.  

If the student was not previously disqualified from a law school for academic reasons, and is seeking to transfer credits from an unaccredited registered law school, Concord may accept credit for all courses passed if the student has passed the FYLSE. However, if the student has not passed the FYLSE, Concord can accept no more than six (6) credits. If the student was previously disqualified from a law school for academic reasons, no transfer credit may be awarded from an accredited registered law school unless the student has passed the FYLSE.

In addition, note that transfer credit will be considered only for courses taken in a JD program at a school that is: (a) ABA approved; (b) accredited by the State Bar of California; or (c) registered with the State Bar of California, subject to the limitations above. Law courses taken in a non-JD program, such as a master’s degree program, or in a JD program at a school that does not meet (a), (b), or (c) cannot be considered.

If you completed study at a law school described above, you must have your legal study evaluated and certified by the Committee of Bar Examiners prior to Concord’s acceptance and application of those credits into its JD program. If you completed law study outside of the United States, it is recommended that you obtain an evaluation of your law studies by the Committee of Bar Examiners.

EJD Students

Transfer credit will be granted at the discretion and determination of the Dean’s Office and only for courses taken in a doctorate program at a law school with ABA accreditation, state accreditation, or registered with the State Bar of California. Courses not taken at a law school may only be accepted if preapproved through agreements made by Concord Law School.

Transfer Credit for Concurrent Courses at Another Law School

Requirements for Acceptance of Credit into JD Program

1. Prior approval from Concord is obtained.
2. The course is offered through a JD program at an appropriately accredited school.
3. The education must meet all requirements to be considered qualifying legal education under the rules of the State Bar of California.
4. For students who enrolled in Concord’s JD program prior to Concord being granted accreditation by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California, you are responsible to ensure that you maintain the appropriate course load at Concord to earn a qualifying half-year or year of legal education. If you enroll in excess credit hours in a single year, you must still receive passing grades in at least 10 semester credit hours per term at Concord to receive credit for that half-year from the State Bar of California, or passing grades in at least 20 semester credit hours per year at Concord to receive credit for that year from the State Bar of California.

Requirements for Acceptance of Credit into EJD Program

1. Prior approval from Concord is obtained.
2. The course is offered through an appropriately accredited law school.
3. The course is appropriate for the EJD program.
4. You are responsible for ensuring that you are admitted to the external program, enroll and complete the course, and maintain the appropriate course load at Concord.

At the conclusion of the course, you must provide Concord with an official transcript indicating course grades before credit can be awarded.

Transfer of Concord Credits to Other Schools

If you wish to continue your education at other schools, you must not assume that credits earned at Concord Law School will be accepted by the receiving institution. It is your responsibility to acquaint yourself with the requirements of the selected school and the requirements of that state's licensing, certification board, and accrediting body. Institutions of higher education vary in nature and number of credits they will accept toward any program. It is at the sole discretion of that receiving institution to accept credits earned at Concord Law School. This is standard transfer of credit procedure. Neither Concord Law School nor Purdue Global can guarantee the transferability of any credits to other institutions.

Program Changes

As a JD student, you may request to change to the EJD program at any time.
 
As an EJD student, you may only transfer to the JD program, with prior petition approval from the Dean's Office, if you successfully completed your first year of law study in the JD program, have passed the First-Year Law Students' Exam (FYLSE) (this requirement only applies to students who enrolled into Concord’s JD program prior to Concord being granted accreditation by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California), and are in good academic standing in the EJD program. Note that none of the coursework you completed in the EJD program can satisfy JD program requirements, so you may be required to retake previously passed courses.
 
EJD students who do not meet all of the above stipulations may not transfer to the JD program and must withdraw and reapply for JD admission. If you previously completed any coursework in the JD program, you may be required to petition to restart your studies with the State Bar of California. Refer to the Application for Readmission policy for more information.