Aims and Objectives

The Association of American Law Schools recommends that a Pre-Law Program should be concerned with the development of basic skills and insights fundamental to the later attainment of legal competence. The quality of education called for should include:

1. Comprehension and expression in words;

2. Critical understanding of the human institutions and values with which the law deals; and

3. Creative power in thinking.

According to the Association: “The development of these fundamental capacities is not the monopoly of any one subject-matter area, department or division. Rather, their development is the result of a highly individualized process pursued with high purpose and intensive intellectual effort by persons with at least a reasonable degree of native intelligence. Perhaps the most important variable ingredient of a proper climate for this process is the quality of undergraduate instruction. Certainly, it is not any particular course or combination of courses. Shortly stated, what the law schools seek in the entering students is not accomplishment in mere memorization but accomplishment in understanding, the capacity to think for themselves, and the ability to express their thoughts with clarity and force.”

At Gannon University individuals expressing an interest in Pre-Law are initially placed in a sequence of courses in their Freshman and Sophomore years which introduce them to many of the major fields within Gannon. During this period the student, in consultation with the Director of the Pre-Law Program, is encouraged to select a field of concentration and to plan a course of studies which seems best suited to his or her individual interests and attitudes and to the fulfillment of the objectives of the Pre-Law Program.

Students from any major may elect to pursue a Minor in Pre-Law Studies consisting of 18 credit hours of approved courses selected from Pre-Law and Cognate fields. Students may also choose to complete a Legal Studies Certificate.