Columns of Justice Building

How Our Online Law School Works

High-Quality, Accessible, and Affordable Legal Education

You don’t have to give up your job and move across the state or commute through heavy traffic to attend law school online. Our students have completed our program while working full time, raising children, or even while engaged in active military duty overseas. Purdue Global Law School has helped over 2,700 students graduate from its Juris Doctor and Executive Juris Doctor programs.

More affordable tuition means more options. You can work in public service, without excessive student loans, or take the time to build up your law practice. A number of our graduates do pro bono (that is, donated) legal work to help the needy, which is also made easier with lower tuition.

Learn more about our online law school experience, tuition, courses, and more.

Purdue Global Law School Virtual Tour

Take a virtual tour with Dean Martin Pritikin as he guides you through an overview of our online law school.

Purdue Global Law School Accreditation

In 2007, Purdue Global Law School became the first online law school to be part of a regionally accredited university. Today, we are part of the respected Purdue University system, and are one of the first online law schools to be accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California.

Due to its law school accreditation with the Committee, Purdue Global Law School has the authority to offer a Juris Doctor degree that qualifies recipients to take the California Bar Examination and obtain admission to the practice of law in California. 

See Notes and Conditions section below for important information.

Online Class Platform

One of the big advantages of studying law at Purdue Global Law School is that the front door of your law school is wherever you and your internet connection are. You can access Purdue Global Law School from home, the office, or on the road.

Upon logging in through the Purdue Global Campus portal, each student will access his or her customized personal homepage.

If you need any help, advisors are available by phone or email to walk you through technical issues or other questions you may have about the platform or your program.

  • Your personal homepage alerts you to any new announcements or messages.

  • The courses you’re enrolled in also appear on your homepage.

  • When you select a course, you’ll see any announcements or updates your professor has posted.

Online Course Modules
Reading Assignments
Video Presentations
Learning Activities
Quizzes
Essays and Other Writing Assignments

Online Course Modules

Each Purdue Global Law School course is organized in a series of units called modules. Modules function as an interactive syllabus, providing access to assignments and organizing your studies. The platform keeps track of your progress through each module.

Each course is organized around 15 modules designed to span a 16-week term. That means you will want to complete the modules at an average pace of 1 module every 7 days—although we know that with your busy lives, sometimes you may fall a little behind or work ahead, depending on what else you have going on. You will generally take 3 courses per term, and you should expect to spend at least 25 hours per week on average on your studies.

Reading Assignments

Each module within a course may consist of reading assignments, video lectures, interactive learning activities, multiple-choice quizzes, writing assignments, discussion boards, and live synchronous classes.

You will be assigned readings from some of the same textbooks used in most law schools throughout the country. But you will have access to much more than that.

Video Presentations

Your Purdue Global Law School professors have recorded video presentations that synthesize and expand upon the substantive material in your readings, and, by doing so, they save time during live seminars for more interaction and engagement.

The video presentations are available 24/7. You can stop, rewind, and review them as many times as you like.

Learning Activities

After most videos, there will be an ungraded learning activity that will give you the opportunity to apply and reinforce what you just learned, without the pressure of a grade or time limit.

There are various types of interactive learning activities. Some, for example, will ask you to type in a short answer response to a prompt.

You can then compare your answer side-by-side with an expert answer, for immediate feedback and reinforcement of the proper approach.

Quizzes

Unlike many traditional law curricula where the assessments in the course might only be a midterm and a final exam, Purdue Global Law School students receive constant support and feedback throughout the term. In most modules, you’ll take a quiz designed to help assess your understanding of the material. Periodically, there will also be cumulative quizzes that test the material you have learned not only in the current module, but in the earlier parts of the course.

To support your learning going forward, once you take each quiz, you are provided with an explanation of the correct answer choice, and the reason why each answer choice was right or wrong, which enables you to immediately correct any misunderstandings.

Essays and Other Writing Assignments

In addition to multiple-choice questions, you will complete writing assignments as part of your coursework. When you reach a module with an essay or other written assignment, you will write the answer and turn it in via the Learning Management System. Through the system, your answer will be returned with a grade and/or comments from your professor. In addition, you will be provided with access to a model answer.

You will also be provided with tools and training on how to self-assess your work, so you can learn from any mistakes and improve in the most efficient and effective way possible. This continual assessment and support, which integrates the latest in adult learning and online learning research with the legal expertise of our faculty, is one of the hallmarks of the Purdue Global Law School program.

Interactive Resources

Your Purdue Global courses seek to make the most of the technology by providing you with other resources such as interactive flowcharts and outlines, as well as additional practice questions and essays.

In each module, you have an opportunity to interact with your fellow classmates as well as your professor by posting and responding to others’ posts on the discussion board. The discussion board prompts are designed to promote engagement and student interest in and a deeper understanding of the material.

Live Seminars

Beyond the video lectures and other resources with which you engage asynchronously, on your own time, Purdue Global Law School students meet with their professor in live online synchronous classes called seminars.

At the scheduled time, you will sign in to your professor’s classroom. Classmates who are in attendance are listed, and you can use the time before class to catch up or discuss the coursework through private messaging.

When the professor begins class, you will see or hear the professor through live streaming video or audio. You can ask a question, answer a question, or add to the discussion via video, audio, or classroom chat box.

Purdue Global Law School professors are adept at generating lively debate and discussion through the synchronous seminar system. Some students have found it to be a more engaging experience than they had in their traditional classrooms.

Seminar Archives

To add more convenience and flexibility, all classes are archived. If you miss a class, or want to review the discussion, you can access past classes through the platform.

We know that some students want more help or practice than they can get through their courses. To support additional individual or group study, Purdue Global Law School has developed the Academic Resource Center, which includes a pool of practice questions and study resources organized by year of study and by course.

But we don’t expect you to just do it all on your own. Purdue Global's faculty and staff work with you to help you achieve your goals.

Support Resources

For our JD students who will be taking the California Bar Exam after graduation, we have programs designed specifically to help you prepare. In JD students’ final year, they will take our Capstone course, which is a two-term course designed to reinforce the skills and knowledge needed for the California Bar Exam. This course was designed by Professor Steve Bracci, who has spent decades preparing thousands of students for the bar exam.

Online Law Library

All of our students, not only our JD students, have the benefit of Purdue Global Law School's online law library resources and support from the law school and Purdue Global library professionals. 

Center for Career Advancement

Students have access to our Center for Career Advancement Advisors, who provide one-to-one counseling with students as they approach graduation and offer resources on job opportunities, resume writing, interviewing, and more.

Faculty Support

Our faculty and staff provide everyday support. Students are encouraged to work with their professors or assistant deans of students when they need help with study techniques, time management, or questions about their program.

See Notes and Conditions section below for important information.

Purdue Global Law School Community

People may assume that going to law school online is an isolating experience where you don’t interact much with your peers. But in fact, our students not only interact during the live classes, they are encouraged to and often do form study groups with their peers.

A number of students go on to form lifelong friendships with their classmates, even if they’re located in another city or state. Some graduates have even gone on to open up law practices together after graduation. The diversity of our students’ backgrounds and their often substantial work experience add a unique vibrancy to our law school.

Purdue Global Law School students are encouraged to engage with the legal profession while still enrolled in law school. Both JD and EJD students have the opportunity to engage in externships, where they apprentice in a law firm or other professional setting. Students can locate their own externship supervisor, or Purdue Global Law School can try to help put them in touch with one.

Moot Court

Purdue Global Law School also has a moot court honors program that has repeatedly won awards and recognition in competitions against brick-and-mortar law schools.

Student Groups

Students can become active in our official Student Bar Association or form informal groups based on their interests.

Student Satisfaction

We don’t just assume that our students value their experience at Purdue Global Law School. Purdue Global Law School students participate in the Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE), a national survey administered to tens of thousands of law students, almost all of whom are at traditional law schools.

Purdue Global Law School students responded more favorably on a variety of metrics in which one wouldn’t expect an online law school to outperform brick-and-mortar schools.