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2023-2024 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Law, BA
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Program Information
The Bachelor of Arts in Law is designed to provide undergraduate students with a deep grasp of the essential topics, major concepts, and core theoretical perspectives within the discipline of law and legal studies broadly conceived. Students will cultivate knowledge and skills from the fundamental domains of law, including administrative, constitutional and contract, as well as basic procedures in criminal and civil law. Throughout the degree, theoretical principles are grounded in applied, real-world case studies and examples, equipping students to use legal tools and insights in a variety of professional settings.
Augmenting these special areas of legal focus, students will demonstrate broader programmatic learning outcomes including critical thinking, oral and written communication, media and information literacy, ethics, quantitative fluency, broad integrative knowledge, applied learning, and more specific types of specialized knowledge from the liberal studies. These skills are practiced and assessed throughout the degree, in order to ensure students have an integrated, well-rounded portfolio of attributes upon graduation.
The bachelor’s degree in law is highly versatile. Graduates from the program can use their knowledge and skills in a variety of disciplines, and students can go on to work in myriad professional settings, including: Adoptions Case Manager, Asylum Officer, Auditor, Civil Rights Advocate, Claims Administrator or Adjustor, Commercial Real Estate Broker, Compliance Officer, Conflict Resolution Specialist, Congressional Staffer, Consumer Safety Officer, Contracts Manager, Corporate Ethics Officer, Environmental Protection Specialist, Financial Compliance Officer, Court Administrator, Export Control Officer, Foreign Affairs Officer, Financial Compliance Officer, Health Care Administrator, Human Resources Specialist, Human Rights Officer, Insurance Broker, Intellectual Property Specialist, International Trade Specialist, Investigator, Jury Consultant, Law Enforcement Agent, Law Librarian, Legal Correspondent, Legal Technology Consultant, Lobbyist, Ombudsperson, Paralegal Specialist, Patent Examiner, Policy Analyst, Politician/Legislator, Probation Officer, Procurement Officer, Public Affairs/Media Specialist, Resource Manager, Risk Manage Social Worker, Victim Advocate, and others.
Furthermore, for those wishing to pursue graduate studies, this degree also prepares students for a smooth transition into our JD degree programs.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students who complete the BA in Law, including the general education curriculum, will be able to:
- Apply legal analysis to interpret and explain phenomena.
- Demonstrate abilities to interpret and evaluate legal sources and fact-patterns to which those legal sources will be applied.
- Identify policy justifications for legal rules and principles.
- Apply existing legal responses to new problems and develop new legal theories and responses for new problems.
- Analyze and interpret quantitative data and apply results in legal analysis, strategy, tactics, and practice.
- Analyze and interpret the economic policy justifications for existing legal rules and regulations and explore those rules and regulations in analysis of novel fact patterns.
- Apply ethically acceptable standards to evaluate legal decisions and practice.
- Apply ethically sound principles and values to ameliorate and/or mitigate real-world personal and/or professional challenges and to build and enhance personal relationships.
- Demonstrate ability to research legal questions by locating, evaluating and applying appropriate sources to a wide range of legal questions.
- Construct written communications that clearly articulate legal ideas and arguments appropriate to various audiences.
- Demonstrate ability to conduct oral arguments in defense of client interests and, conversely, to respond critically to an adversary’s position.
- Demonstrate interpersonal communication and case management skills, either through persuasive speech, and/or in providing clear oral directions, instructions, and/or guidelines, that address a legal issue, case or client problem.
- Examine a previously advocated position, including the ability to amend and change that position in light of previously unidentified law, regulations, facts or circumstances, both with respect to individual matters or obligations and with respect to one’s professional principles and posture in general.
- Apply legal values and principles to career goals.
- Identify and express common legal values that build community at local, national, and global levels.
- Develop innovative approaches and solutions to existing or emerging legal challenges that also draw on disciplinary perspectives in related fields where appropriate, such as ethics, humanities and/or social sciences.
- Explain and analyze how legal knowledge and analysis can elaborate and deepen the understanding of social and cultural diversity and economic development.
- Describe and apply concepts, principles, and overarching themes in law and legal thinking.
- Develop a working knowledge of the major theoretical approaches, findings, historical trends, and content domains in one or more specialized fields of legal knowledge.
Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts in Law
The degree requires completion of 120 units as follows: 36 units of general education, 33 units for the major, and 51 units of elective courses, including courses taken to earn minors. (See Declaring Minors below for more information.) Each course listed carries three semester units of credit, unless otherwise noted. A cumulative grade-point average of 2.00 “C” or higher is required in all courses taken at Golden Gate University.
All degree-seeking undergraduate students must complete their English, mathematics and critical thinking requirements within their first 27 units at Golden Gate University, unless they have already earned credit for the equivalent courses from another institution and have had those courses accepted in transfer by Golden Gate University. If either math or English requirements for the degree have not been satisfied, newly enrolled students must take placement tests to ensure proper placement in the appropriate math or English course. Students may also choose to waive the placement tests and enroll in the first course in either series, which are ENGL 10A and MATH 10 . (See the course descriptions below to identify courses that have prerequisite course requirements.)
General Education - 36 units
Lifelong Learning and Self Development - 3 units
Communication and Critical Thinking - 9 units
Quantitative Reasoning - 3 units
One of the following:
Liberal Studies - 21 units
Major Requirements - 33 units
Foundation Course - 3 units
Required Law Courses - 21 units
Elective Law Courses - 9 units
Select three of the following:
Elective Courses - 51 units
Select seventeen additional 3-unit upper or lower-division courses from any subject for a total of 51 units. Note: courses used to complete minors also count toward this requirement.
Declaring Minors
Students may declare up to two minors for their bachelor’s degree programs. Students seeking to declare more than two minors will be required to appeal to the dean for approval.
Students will not be permitted to declare minors at the point of application but may do so following admission or prior to degree conferral. Students should make their minor declarations through their assigned academic advisors by submission of the Declaration of Minor form.
Students’ diplomas will list the minors that they had successfully completed at the time their degrees were conferred. Students may not declare additional minors after their degrees have been conferred.
Bachelor’s degree-seeking students may declare the minors shown below. Note: students may not declare minors that are the same as their majors.
Undergraduate Honors Program
The School of Undergraduate Studies’ honors program provides opportunities for students enrolled in all degree programs to engage in enriched learning experiences while they work toward earning their degrees. Students do not need to apply separately for this program, but may participate in it by registering for honors-designated course sections, as described below. Upon graduation, students who have completed the honors program must complete and submit the Honors Program Notation Request form to the Registrar’s Office to have the notation added to their transcripts.
Honors-designated course sections will emphasize the following learning outcomes: media and information literacy, quantitative fluency, oral/written communication, and critical thinking. Students will be required to complete advanced and more rigorous assignments that demonstrate learning beyond the articulated course outcomes. Additional assessments will be designed to emphasize core skills such as critical thinking, writing, research, and self-reflection.
Program Requirements
To complete the honors program, students must complete any combination of 12 units (four 3-unit courses) of honors-designated sections and an honors-designated capstone course section (3 units) for a total of 15 units, with a minimum GPA in the five honors courses of 3.00 and a minimum overall degree program GPA of 3.30. Note: honors course sections can be identified in the online course schedule with a section prefix beginning with the letter “A” (e.g., ASF1) and by information in the section comments field of the section details page. Students should contact their academic advisor or the Registrar’s Office if they need help identifying honors-designated course sections.
Honors sections of the courses below will be offered every term. In addition, students who transfer any of these courses into GGU may petition to have an honors section offered of other courses in order to satisfy the 12-unit requirement. Students should contact their academic advisors to begin the petition process.
Core Requirement - 12 units
Capstone Course - 3 units
Complete the honors section of the capstone course applicable to the student’s degree program.
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