Bar Success Prescribed Curriculum

Updates are Coming for 2023-2024 First Year Students!

Substantial changes are planned for the Bar Success Prescribed Curriculum (BSPC) These changes will apply to students who matriculated in June 2023 or later and have a cumulative GPA lower than 3.0 at the end of their 1L year. Watch this page, we expect to post the updated BPSC requirements in February 2024.

Bar Success Prescribed Curriculum Requirements for Students who Matriculated Before June 2023.

Seattle U Law has created a specialized curriculum to prepare students to pass the bar exam, a crucial step on the path to becoming a practicing attorney.

• Strongly encouraged for all students, as the curriculum covers essential content areas and skills tested on the bar exam.
• Mandatory for students ranked in the bottom third of their class after completing the first 30 credit hours.

Courses

• Business Entities (4 credits) 
• Three credits of Trusts & Estates and one credit of Enhanced Analytical Skills. There are two ways to fulfill this requirement:
  • Trusts and Estates (3 credits) and the Enhanced Analytical Skills Lab (1 credit). The courses do not need to be taken concurrently.
  • Trusts, Estates and Enhanced Analytical Skills (4 credits). This course combines Trusts and Estates and Enhanced Analytical Skills content.
• Bar Exam Strategies and Skills (3 credits) 
• Two additional bar-tested courses:
  • Civil Procedure II (2 credits)
  • Constitutional Law II (3 credits)
  • Criminal Procedure Investigative (3 credits) or Criminal Procedure Adjudicative (3 credits)
  • Family Law (3 credits)
  • Real Estate Transactions (3 credits)
  • UCC Sales (3 credits)
  • UCC Secured Transactions (3 credits)

Requirements for bottom third students

The Bar Success Prescribed Curriculum is required for students ranked in the bottom third of their class at the end of the first year. They must complete the curriculum in conjunction with the upper-level degree requirements in the following sequence:

Full-time students

• 2L year

  • Upper-Level Degree Requirements
    • Constitutional Law (4 credits, fall only)
    • Legal Writing II: Written and Oral Advocacy (3 credits, fall or spring)
  • Bar Success Prescribed Curriculum
    • Trusts & Estates (3 credits) with the Enhanced Analytical Skills Lab (1 credit) or  Trusts, Estates, & Enhanced Analytic Skills (4 credits)
    • At least two of the following courses (fall or spring): Business Entities (4 credits); Evidence (4 credits); Professional Responsibility (3 credits); Courses from the Bar-Tested Course List (see above)

• 3L year

  • Upper-level degree requirements
    • Any remaining required courses
  • Bar Success Prescribed Curriculum
    • Bar Exam Strategies and Skills (3 credits)
    • Any remaining Bar Success Prescribed Curriculum requirements

Part-time

Prior to completing 60 credits

• Trusts & Estates (3 credits) with the Enhanced Analytical Skills Lab (1 credit) or  Trusts, Estates, & Enhanced Analytic Skills (4 credits)
• One or more of the following courses: Business Entities (4 credits); Evidence (4 credits); courses from the Bar-Tested Course List (see above)

Prior to completing 90 credits

• Any remaining required courses
• Bar Exam Strategies and Skills (3 credits)
• Any remaining Bar Success Prescribed Curriculum requirements

Registration

• Bottom third students will be automatically registered for Trusts and Estates and Bar Exam Strategies and Skills.
• Students can submit section preferences before registration appointments begin.
• Because registration occurs before spring class ranks are available, initial 2L registration will be based on the prior fall's class ranks.

Modification to or release from policy

A student may petition the Vice Dean to modify this policy if application of the policy would prevent the student from participating in an academic program that would be in the student's best interests. At a minimum, the student's petition should:

1. Identify the academic program the student wishes to participate in.
2. Explain the policy modification sought.
3. Explain how the modification is in the student's best interests. 
4. Include a recommendation from the Academic Excellence and Bar Success team
5. Include any other information the Vice Dean deems necessary.

A student may petition the Vice Dean for release from this policy, upon a showing of a substantial improvement in the student's academic performance in required and/or bar tested courses. At a minimum, the student's petition should:

1. Explain why release from the policy is in the student's best interests.
2. Include a recommendation from the Academic Excellence and Bar Success team
3. Include any other information the Vice Dean deems necessary.