Concentration in Pre-Law
Undergraduate Degree Concentration
The Concentration in Pre-Law provides the opportunity for students to develop a unique program of study combining courses from multiple University of New Mexico departments and/or colleges. This concentration is available to all students and does not necessarily lead to admission into a law program but is a good undergraduate option for students interested in legal careers and/or eventual graduate law school admission. No official minor is required to be declared with this concentration, but the use of existing departmental minor(s) outside LAIS is encouraged.
Graduation Requirements
Students must receive a grade of “C” or higher in all the following requirements:
| Credit Hours | |
1. | 12 hours from the following: • COMM 1130 (Public Speaking) or COMM 2120 (Interpersonal Communication) • CJ 323 (Nonverbal Communication) • CJ 327 (Persuasive Communication) • CJ 332 (Business and Professional Speaking) • CJ 333 (Professional Communication) • CJ 334 (Political Communication) • CJ 337 (Rhetorical Theory) • CJ 344 (Interviewing) | 12 hours |
2. | PHIL 1120 (Logic, Reasoning, & Critical Thinking) or PHIL 2140 (Professional Ethics) PHIL 381 (Philosophy of Law) | 6 hours |
3. | ENGL 2210 (Professional & Technical Communication) or ENGL 2220 (Introduction to Professional Writing) | 3 hours |
4. | MATH 1300 (Statistical Literacy) or MATH 1350 (Introduction to Statistics) | 3 hours |
5. | SOCI 1110 (Introduction to Sociology) SOCI 2120 (Introduction to Criminal Justice System) or SOCI 2210 (Sociology of Deviance) SOCI 312 (Causes of Crime and Delinquency) SOCI 416 (Sociology of Law) | 12 hours |
6. | POLS 1120 (American National Government) POLS 315 (Constitutional Law: Powers) POLS 316 (Constitutional Law: Liberties) POLS 317 (Constitutional Law: Rights) | 12 hours |
7. | Research methods course selected from: • CELR 350 (Community Based Research I: Design) • CJ 301 (Communication Research Methods) • CRP 413 (Qualitative Research Methods) • NATV 2140 (Research Issues in Native America) • NUTR 301 (Nutrition Research and Writing) • PSYC 302 (Psychological Research Techniques) • PH 310 (Population Health Research Methods) • POLS 327 (Qualitative Research Methods) • SOCI 380 (Introduction to Research Methods) • Or a substitute course approved by the LAIS Department Note, most of the courses above have prerequisite requirements that must be completed first. | 3 hours |
8. | Completion of 2 of the following 4 options |
|
| 12 hours from any of the following subjects: • Community and Regional Planning (CRP) • Community Engaged Learning and Research (CELR) • Computer Science (CS) • Economics (ECON) • Environmental Science (ENVS) • Family and Child Studies (FCS) • Geography (GEOG) • History (HIST) • Management (MGMT) • Psychology (PSY) • Public Health (PH) | 12 hours |
| 12 hours from any cultural studies course from the following subjects: • Africana Studies (AFST) • American Studies (AMST) • Chicana and Chicano Studies (CCS) • International Studies (INTS) • Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies (LLSS) • Latin American Studies (LTAM) • Medieval Studies (MDVL) • Museum Studies (MSST) • Native American Studies (NATV) • Peace Studies (PCST) • Religious Studies (RELG) • Sustainability Studies (SUST) • Women Studies (WMST) | 12 hours |
| 12 hours from any Military Studies department (excluding labs and physical training): • Aerospace Studies (AFAS) • Military Science and Leadership (MLSL) • Naval Science (NVSC) | 12 hours |
| Completion or testing equivalent of second-semester intermediate non-English language course from: • Arabic (ARBC) • Chinese (CHIN) • French (FREN) • Greek (GREK) • German (GRMN) • Italian (ITAL) • Japanese (JAPN) • Latin (LATN) • Navajo (NVJO) • Portuguese (PORT) • Russian (RUSS) • Signed Language Interpreting (SIGN) • Spanish (SPAN) • Swahili (SWAH) | 3-12 hours |
| Total | 75 hours |
We may also count Honors College (UHON/HNRS) courses as a group option via exception.
Sample degree roadmap
Please note, all baccalaureate degrees from UNM require a minimum of 120 overall hours, along with the completion of a New Mexico General Education curriculum and 45 upper division hours, so some additional electives beyond the specific requirements listed above may be needed.
