Are on-line Juris doctor degrees a joke in the industry like Phoenix MBA ?
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I would think that they are.
Who says a degree from The University of Phoenix (I assume you mean U of Phoenix, yes?) is a joke? It is an accredited university, just like any state university. The fact that its students don't go to class everyday in buildings covered with ivy does not make it any less a school than one with those trappings. I am not a student there and never have been...
I would think a JD earned on-line is as good as any other if you can pass the bar exam when you are done. All this stuff about "I went to Harvard Law" or "I went to Yale Law" is pure elitism. So what? If you are my lawyer in a murder case against me and you get an innocent verdict out of the jury, I couldn't care if you got your degree came off the back of a Cracker Jack box.
Worse. There are very few options, and the ones that exist are not respected by most law firms. Keep in mind that unlike in a business, in which those in charge may or may not have MBAs, every partner in a law firm got a J.D. from a traditional law school. They are therefore more skeptical of anyone who came up through less familiar means.
I would say that almost every online degree has less worth than an actual degree in the real markey. Why would anyone want to hire a U. of Phoenix graduate over a UCLA graduate? However, an online degree can still open doors for adults that want better job opportunities, or that getting an advanced degree will add them a couple of thousands a year.
Given that, it depends what type of law you want to do. If you want to get into a fancy law firm or do Corporate Law with a good end, you will need to graduate from a top 100 program, top 20 if you want a strong shot in corporate.
If you want to go into non-profit, you might as well get any degree, for your salary will be 40k a year and could matter very little if at all where you graduated from.
If your aspirations are to work in criminal law, I don't see the problem with an online degree. Passing the bar will pretty much put you in the same place as an Ivy leaguer. Why? Because most people don't even know what are the good universities. You could tell them you graduated from Northwestern or (insert online school) and they won't know the difference. Even if you say Berkeley or Harvard won't make a huge difference besides them thinking "I got a good lawyer."
And finally, who asks where their lawyer graduated? When was the last time you went to the doctor's office and asked him what med school he went to? I never did until I got an advanced degree.
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