Career Opportunity Abroad for BAU Law Students

A career opportunity from the United States is coming for students studying law. Thanks to the agreement between the BAU Faculty of Law and Kansas University Law School, students are given the opportunity to receive two separate diplomas: an undergraduate diploma as well as a master's degree with thesis. Students who successfully complete their education will also become eligible to take the bar exam in New York, California, Washington, Georgia and Wisconsin.

"An Opportunity to Earn 2 Diplomas in 4 Years"

A collaboration agreement was signed between Bahçeşehir University, which aims to train qualified jurists who will work on international platforms, and Kansas University Law School, regarded as one of the best schools in the world. Within the framework of the agreement, Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Law students who complete all their courses up to the third year of their undergraduate education will, after also completing the one-year LLM program at Kansas University Law School (USA), earn the right to receive their undergraduate diploma from Türkiye and their master's diploma from the United States. Thus, students will have the opportunity to earn 2 diplomas in 4 years.

"They Will Become Eligible to Take the Bar Exam in New York, California, Washington, Georgia and Wisconsin"

Within the framework of the agreement, a first in Türkiye, students who successfully complete their education at Kansas University Law School will also become eligible to take the bar exams in the US states of New York, California, Washington, Georgia and Wisconsin. Faculty performance and language proficiency requirements will be taken into account in selecting students for the face-to-face program. The students who will be eligible to go will be determined after a faculty interview. Students who fulfill the necessary requirements at the end of the third year of their undergraduate education will be able to apply to the program.

Both an Undergraduate and a Master's Diploma in 4 Years

Providing detailed information on the subject, Bahçeşehir University Vice Dean Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zafer Kahraman said, "Our collaboration with Kansas University goes back many years, but this year we did something very special. With the newly signed agreement, when our students complete their third year, they will be able to apply to Kansas University for the final year, provided that they have no failed courses. With a specially prepared curriculum, they will be able to complete both their 4th-year elective courses here and Kansas. They will receive their undergraduate diploma here and an LLM diploma there at the same time. In other words, at the end of four years, they will be able to complete both an undergraduate and a master's degree."

Both a Double Diploma and the Right to Take the Bar Exam in the US

Stating that, through the collaboration, students can obtain not only a diploma but also the right to take the bar exam in the United States, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zafer Kahraman said, "Normally, foreigners cannot practice law in the United States, but under their own specific laws, 5 states give students who have completed a one-year LLM program in the US the right to take the bar exams. In this way, our students who successfully complete their education will also gain the right to take the bar exams and practice law there."

Can Every Student Apply?

Also commenting on Kansas University's admission requirements, Zafer Kahraman said, "Of course, first of all, an English proficiency exam will be required. We are an English-medium institution, so I believe their English will be sufficient, but they will also need to obtain the documents requested. Our wish is that students do not return having lost a year when they go. Therefore, we will select students who have been successful up to the fourth year and have no failed courses. Kansas will accept the students referred by us anyway."

"We Are Pleased to Develop Our Partnership"

Regarding the collaboration, Dean of Kansas University Law School Prof. Dr. Stephen Mazza shared his views: "As a university, we are pleased to expand our long-standing partnership with BAU. This partnership will benefit students at both institutions. It will enrich the classes of Kansas law students and give BAU Law students the opportunity to earn a law degree from a well-recognized law school in the US. Kansas University is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU), which consists of 65 leading research universities in North America."

"There Are No Perfect Laws, There Are Perfect Jurists"

Finally, stating that they will host their students this year on their fully equipped new campus, Kahraman underlined that the conditions for the legal fields of the future have also been created on this new campus. Kahraman concluded, "We have now moved our Faculty of Law, which was established in 1998, to our new building. It has become a very modern law campus. It houses many innovative elements such as laboratories, clinics and a courtroom. Simulations are carried out every day. For us, the new campus has provided not just a new building but entirely new horizons. For example, we launched a Blockchain law course, a first in Türkiye. Our artificial intelligence research group has also started to produce good results over the past few years. We have many centers, led by the Human Rights Center, and practice-oriented programs such as legal professions training. Türkiye greatly needs good jurists. Our goal is to train good jurists. We always remind our students of the saying 'there are no perfect laws, there are perfect jurists.' I hope good and honorable jurists will take part in Türkiye's future. We want to raise today's students as the good jurists of the future."