Students in China can now earn a law degree from an American university without leaving the mainland.

Last August, the University of Arizona (UA) and Ocean University in Qingdao welcomed students to a dual-degree law program based at the college in China. Upon successful completion of classes, students can graduate with an LLB from Ocean University and a bachelor of arts in law from UA.

'We currently have 77 students who have started the program. The goal is to eventually admit 80 to 100 students a year for the next four years who will basically earn two law degrees,' Brent White, vice-provost for international education at the University of Arizona in Tucson, said in an interview.

The program is the first US-China joint off ering in law available fully in residence in China. The idea is to produce Chinese lawyers who are knowledgeable about the US legal system, said White.

All required law courses will be off ered at UA's location on the Ocean campus in China. Students will have the option to complete a portion of their studies at UA's campus in Tucson.

All classroom instruction will be done in person by University of Arizona law school faculty members, White said. 'We expect to have about four faculty members in China. They will be joined by other faculty members who will go to China in the summer,'he added.

Tuition for the program in China is $8,000 a year. White said tuition to attend the James E. Rogers College of Law at UA is $29,000 a year.

'It's a great opportunity for students. We are trying to deliver a high-quality legal education and pricing it so a lot of students in China can take advantage of it,' White said.

He noted that Ocean University is providing infrastructure for the program. 'We are just delivering content and we are doing this as an educational endeavor,' continued White. 'Dual-degree programs are good for China and they are good for the US. They enable students to obtain skills needed in an increasingly globalized world.'

Applications to law schools in the US are declining as an oversupply of lawyers that started during the financial crisis continues. White said this program is not designed to address that issue. 'We have changed the mix of our class to refl ect the admission of more non-traditional JD (juris doctor) candidates,' said White.

'We have had global partnerships for some time. About 25 percent of our JD class is international students.'

He said Arizona has about 800 students studying for some form of a legal education, which is up from the usual 400.

Ocean was founded in 1924 and is a comprehensive university with strengths in oceanography and fisheries science, according to its website. With an enrollment of about 40,000, Ocean was one of the first universities approved to confer PhD degrees.

paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com