Soon, you might not need to set foot in a classroom to get a degree from the NYU School of Law.
Starting this fall, the school is offering a new graduate program that will let part-time students attend NYU and get a degree over the internet. In a recent article in the Washington Square News, NYU will be offering an “Executive L.L.M. in Tax” which will feature online videos of prerecorded lectures, often taught in conjunction with “live” sections of classes. All students will take the same exams and be graded on the same curves, Faculty Director and law professor Noël Cunningham said.
The law school will admit 25 online students this fall, he said.
“The tax program at the law school is the best in the country,” he said. “We thought if we offered something online we would be able to allow people - lawyers in other cites, in other countries - to get the benefit of what we teach.” Cunningham said that there would essentially be no difference between the online program and the current in-residence program.
I imagine this has created a stir within the hallowed halls of NYU Law especially from those who espouse the traditional pedagogical interaction between faculty and student. This is a bold step by NYU and, although I am a proponent of online learning, it will take time to see if a law program can be successful online. Time will tell!