Fitchburg State University students looking to get a jump on their legal career may have hope thanks to an agreement announced Thursday between the school and University of Massachusetts School of Law.
Starting this fall, the agreement will allow qualifying students to complete three undergraduate years at Fitchburg State before proceeding directly to UMass Law in Dartmouth for a three-year juris doctor program, substituting their senior year for the first year of law school. This arrangement will cut a year off the usual span it takes to earn a law degree.
“This agreement is about institutional collaboration that puts students first,” Fitchburg State President Robert V. Antonucci said in a statement. “We are opening doors that will bring affordable, high-quality law degrees within reach of our students.”
According to the schools, this is the first-of-its-kind agreement between the law school and a state university.
