Admissions FAQs

• Priority Consideration Deadline: March 17, 2025
• Application Deadline: July 1, 2025

Completed files received by the priority consideration deadlines will be prioritized and considered first. Files received after each successive priority consideration deadline will also be considered, but the number of offers made will depend on how many seats remain unfilled after the initial April 1^st acceptance deadline.

The Part-Time/Hybrid Program (PT/H) is designed for working professionals and people with other commitments who want to attend law school primarily from where they reside or work. The program's first three years will require limited in-person attendance in Knoxville. 

Students in the PT/H Program attend classes year-round, mostly through asynchronous (online, recorded) instruction on an established schedule. The PT/H Program will have weekly lectures and assignments with completion deadlines. Two-thirds of the instruction is completed online. One-third of the instruction requires residential/in-person attendance.

The Fall 2025 cohort will be limited to up to sixty (60) students composed of two sections of thirty (30) students each.

For Orientation, PT/H Program students must attend Friday through Monday. Classes begin at 8:30 AM and conclude by 6:30 PM ET daily.

For the Fall semester, the required, in-person sessions occur over long weekends. Students arrive at the law school for class by 12:00 PM ET (noon) on Fridays, attend class on Saturday and Sunday, and finish by 1:00 PM ET on Mondays. Specifically, PT/H Program participants will be required to attend classes in person fourteen (14) times in Knoxville over the course of the four-year program; however, the fourth year will be completed completely online.

Required In-Person Visits:

PART-TIME/HYBRID PROGRAM APPLICATION/CONSIDERATION DEADLINES

• Application available on the LSAC website: September 2, 2024
• First Priority Consideration Deadline: December 6, 2024
• Second Priority Consideration Deadline: February 17, 2025
  (applications received between December 7^th and February 17^th AND those who did not receive an offer or decision after the first priority consideration deadline)
• Third Priority Consideration Deadline: May 1, 2025
  (applications received between February 16^th and May 1^st AND those who did not receive an offer or decision after the second priority consideration deadline)
• Application Deadline: July 1, 2025
  (applications received between May 2nd and July 1^st AND those who did not receive an offer or decision after the Third priority consideration deadline)

Unlike our full-time program with rolling admission, completed applicant files are considered in batches after each priority consideration deadline. Completed files received by the respective consideration deadlines will be prioritized for fall admission. Those completed files received after the priority consideration deadlines will be considered, but availability depends on how many seats remain.

To be considered for admission and scholarship opportunities, an applicant must submit the following items –

1. an application;
2. at least two letters of recommendation;
3. an LSAT Writing Sample (if applying with an LSAT score); and
4. Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Report from the Law School Admission Council.

You are also welcome to attach a personal statement or any other addenda that you would like to share. 

Once an applicant’s file is deemed “complete,” it is sent to the Admission and Scholarship Committee for consideration.

Additionally, to be considered for admission, an applicant must either have received a bachelor’s degree or be enrolled in a program leading to a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university recognized by the United States Department of Education (DOE) before starting law school. To determine whether your school is included, please use the following link: 

• https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home.

No major or course of study is a prerequisite for attending law school; all majors are welcome. Courses that provide opportunities for analytical writing seem to help students more than courses emphasizing objective testing.

Letters of recommendation should be submitted through the LSAC website as part of your Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Report (https://www.lsac.org/applying-law-school/jd-application-process/credential-assembly-service-cas/letters-recommendation). LSAC will send a link to the people you indicate as recommenders. Each recommender will upload their respective letters themselves. Once received by LSAC, the applicant must assign each letter to the school(s) he or she wants to receive it. The letters will not be assigned to any school automatically by the LSAC.

Every completed file is considered for scholarship opportunities as it is reviewed by the Committee and the Dean. Scholarships are awarded on a dollar basis. Tuition is charged per credit hour, and any scholarship awarded reduces the amount of tuition proportional to the amount of the award times the number of credit hours attempted. Scholarships for Part-Time/Hybrid Program participants are available, although they will be less than those offered to Full-Time Program students.

Because Lincoln Memorial University is a private, not-for-profit institution, we do not charge different tuition rates for in-state versus out-of-state students.

Subject to eligibility, LMU Law also allows full-time program students to apply for first-time or increased scholarships after completing at least 30 credit hours in their first and second years. Part-time/Hybrid Program students will be eligible for increased scholarship awards after completing their second and third years.

All University-awarded scholarships to LMU Law are renewed automatically so long as you remain in good standing academically and complete all graduation requirements within the number of years of the program for which you were admitted. To remain in good standing academically, you must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.000 on the current scale. Grades will be reviewed at the end of each spring term.

External scholarship opportunities can be found here: https://www.accesslex.org/databank

Applicants must take either the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) or Graduate Record Exam (GRE) to be considered for admission.

LSAT: You can learn more about the LSAT through the following link: https://www.lsac.org/lsat.

The LSAT is offered eight times each year. The current cost to take the LSAT is $222. You can learn about the dates and deadlines through the following link: https://www.lsac.org/lsat/lsat-dates-deadlines-score-release-dates.

LSAT Prep: In preparation for the LSAT, we suggest you begin with the free preparation provided through Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/prep/lsat/. The Khan Academy Program was developed in conjunction with the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), the makers of the LSAT. Launched in June 2018 the Khan Academy program customizes a study plan based on your strengths and weaknesses. The earlier you begin your preparation, the better. To achieve your best score, you will spend about 225 hours preparing for the exam.

Once you have completed the Khan Academy program, we would urge you to consider an LSAT Prep Program, such as: 1) Powerscore; 2) 7Sage; or 3) LSAT Max.

LSAT Writing Sample: If you are applying with an LSAT score, all schools require applicants to complete the LSAT Writing Sample. The cost is included in the fees you pay. You can complete the LSAT Writing Sample eight days before the Law School Admission Test you take and up to a year after you take the exam.

The LSAC will not release your Law School Report with any LSAT score you achieve to any law school until it has received a complete LSAT Writing Sample, so do not delay in completing it.

More information on the LSAT Writing Sample can be found through this link: https://www.lsac.org/lsat/taking-lsat/about-lsat-writing.

Applicants must take either the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) or Graduate Record Exam (GRE) to be considered for admission.

GRE: Information on the GRE can be obtained from the Educational Testing Service’s website: https://www.ets.org/gre.html. In evaluating GRE scores, LMU Law weighs the individual sections as follows: Verbal Reasoning at 40%; Quantitative Reasoning at 40%; and Analytical Writing at 20%. Applicants applying with a GRE score will not have to complete the LSAT Writing Sample (described below); however they must email the Office of Admissions at law.admissions@LMUnet.edu after their application and personal statement have been submitted so we can work with LSAC to obtain a waiver of the LSAT Writing Sample. We will need your LSAC “L” number to complete the waiver request. Notwithstanding the waiver, all transcripts and letters of recommendation must be submitted through the LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service.

If you are taking or using the GRE, then you must notify us after you apply so the LSAT Writing Sample can be waived.

In addition to registering and taking the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), you will need to register for the Law School Admission Council’s Credential Assembly Service and pay its $200 fee: http://lsac.org/jd/applying-to-law-school/cas. The Credential Assembly Service simplifies the admission process for law school applicants by allowing them to submit all the necessary documentation to one central place for distribution to law schools regardless of the number of schools to which they apply.

You will need to send the following to the Credential Assembly Service – 1) all undergraduate, graduate, professional, and if applicable, law school transcripts; and 2) at least two letters of recommendation.

Your account will remain active for five years.

Also, please make sure you have listed our school with the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) so that we may receive your Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Report and letters of recommendation. LMU is listed as “Add Member School,” and our school code is 1977.

Additionally, you will have to pay a Law School Report (otherwise known as the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) or Law School Report Fee) of $45 for each school to which you wish the LSAC to release your CAS Report when it is ready. The LSAC will not release your CAS Report to any law school until it has received all your transcripts, your LSAT Writing Sample, and you have an LSAT score to report.

Virtually every law student takes out federal financial aid to pay for school and living expenses. To determine eligibility and the extent of financial aid available, a student needs to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and indicate for Lincoln Memorial University to receive the information. LMU’s school code, which is the same for the entire University, is 003502. The FAFSA must be completed each year through the FAFSA website - https://fafsa.ed.gov. Once your FAFSA information has been received by the University and you have accepted an offer of admission, then your financial aid information can be accessed by our institution to determine the extent of financial aid available to you. Moreover, no school can access your information until it has received your acceptance of an offer of admission.  

Unless you are not requesting financial aid assistance, everyone must complete a FAFSA each year.

Student loans cover tuition, fees, books, and supplies, living and transportation expenses, loan fees, required health insurance (if needed), and personal expenses.

For additional information regarding financial aid, you may contact Brad Davis by email at Bradford.Davis@lmunet.edu or by telephone at (423) 869-6336.

Lincoln Memorial University and LMU Law truly appreciate your service. As such, we have a full-time veterans benefits director to help you. LMU Law participates in all veteran benefits and vocational rehabilitation programs, including the Yellow Ribbon Program. If you have questions about the use of military benefits, please contact Conrad Daniels, Director of Community College Relations & Veteran Services, by email at conrad.daniels@lmunet.edu or by telephone at (423) 869-6279 to discuss any paperwork you may need to complete. Mr. Daniels is located on our main campus in Harrogate, Tennessee, but he is available anytime to help.

LMU Law fully prepares you for success on the bar exam. Historically, our students pass at high rates regardless of the state where they choose to take the bar, so do not worry if you are not from Tennessee. We will provide you with all you need. It is important to note that over half of our incoming class comes from states outside Tennessee this past year and next year.

Tennessee administers the Uniform Bar Exam or "UBE." The UBE offers the same bar exam in 39 states, the District of Columbia, and the United States Virgin Islands (41 jurisdictions total). The current list of UBE jurisdictions includes AK, AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, DC, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, USVI, VT, WA, WV, and WY.

With the Uniform Bar Exam, a score achieved on one UBE-jurisdiction exam can be used to apply for admission to another UBE jurisdiction without having to take the exam again, depending on the score achieved and the time between taking the UBE and applying for the second admission. More information about bar exam requirements can on the National Conference of Bar Examiners' website: https://www.ncbex.org/UBE/.

For prospective students interested in the Part-Time Hybrid Program, it is important to note the part-time/hybrid program exceeds the number of distance education credit hours currently permitted under the ABA Standards. LMU Law has received acquiescence from the ABA Council to offer the Part-Time/Hybrid Program. However, Lincoln Memorial University advises all applicants to the part-time/hybrid program to check with the jurisdictions in which they may seek admission to the Bar to ensure that graduation from the Part-Time/Hybrid Program will make them eligible for taking the bar exam and being admitted to the bar in those jurisdictions. Contact information for all relevant bar admissions agencies is available through the National Conference of Bar Examiners. Graduates of the Part-Time/Hybrid Program will satisfy most jurisdictions’ current legal education requirements and thus be eligible for admission to the bar in most states.

You can research consumer information about all ABA-approved law schools, including LMU Law, at www.abarequireddisclosures.org. The 2024-2025 ABA Standard 509 Report will be updated mid-December 2024. Similarly, the Bar Passage Report will be updated in mid-February 2024. The new one will be updated in mid-February 2025. The Employment Outcomes Report will be updated in mid-April 2025. It is important to note the ABA does not rank law schools by bar passage or employment outcomes.  Interested parties should view performance over multiple years as one year in isolation might be an aberration and not consistently reflect a school’s overall performance. I suggest a three-year average as it provides the most comprehensive view.

Yes!

Lincoln Memorial University -- John J. Duncan, Jr. School of Law (LMU Law) is approved by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association, 321 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois 60654, 312-988-6738. 

Because Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law is approved by the American Bar Association’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the law school meets the state educational requirements for licensure in all fifty states of the United States of America, as well as the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. There are no U.S. states or territories for which the curriculum for the law school’s full-time program does not meet the state educational requirements for professional licensure or certification, nor are there any U.S. states or territories for which Lincoln Memorial University has not yet decided regarding whether the law school’s full-time curriculum meets the state educational requirements for professional licensure or certification.

LMU Law has received substantive change approval from the Council to offer the Part-Time/Hybrid JD Program. 

The Part-Time/Hybrid Program exceeds the number of distance education credit hours currently permitted under the ABA Standards. Graduates of the Part-Time/Hybrid Program will satisfy most jurisdictions’ current legal education requirements and thus be eligible for admission to the bar in most states. However, Lincoln Memorial University advises all applicants to the Part-Time/Hybrid Program to check with the jurisdictions in which they may seek admission to the bar to ensure that graduation from the Part-Time/Hybrid Program will make them eligible for taking the bar exam and being admitted to the bar in those jurisdictions. Contact information for all relevant bar admissions agencies is available through the National Conference of Bar Examiners. 

In accordance with Standards 501, 504, and 509(a), the Council requires the Law School to advise all students applying to the Part-Time/Hybrid J.D. Program some law schools may not accept transfer credits from this program.