Affiliation

UNH Law is an ABA-accredited law school that entered into an affiliation agreement with the University of New Hampshire, a leading public research institution, in August 2010. At that time, the law school, formerly known as Franklin Pierce Law Center, changed its name to the University of New Hampshire School of Law.

In early 2013, the boards of trustees of the law school and the University System of New Hampshire voted separately to take the next step and fully integrate the two schools. Read more about the UNH Law vote and the USNH vote.

Under the current affiliation, the two schools are formally linked, but the law school remains a separate, nonprofit educational institution. Its faculty and staff are not currently employed by the University System of New Hampshire. But by early 2014, the integration process will be finalized, and UNH Law will officially be a school of the university.

The affiliation has resulted in benefits for students at both institutions as well as enrichment and joint research opportunities for faculty. The schools worked together to create two popular dual degrees: a JD/MBA with UNH's Whittemore School of Business and Economics, and a JD/MSW with UNH’s College of Health and Human Services. The Exchange Agreement between the two schools allows graduate degree students from UNH and JD and LLM or interdisciplinary masters students from the UNH Law who are in good academic and financial standing at each institution to enroll for graduate/law coursework and to earn academic credits at the other institution.