points of pride
A Long Tradition of Excellence
The Legal Studies Department has a rich tradition at the University of Illinois Springfield. The Legal Studies Department has been in existence for over 30 years, starting in the fall of 1977, when the University of Illinois Springfield was Sangamon State.
Individual Attention
We offer small class sizes, which allow students to receive more individual attention from their instructor and have deeper interactions with their fellow classmates. Our average student-professor ration is 15 students to each professor. The professors in the Legal Studies Department just don’t know their student names but they know their strengths and their goals.
Flexible Course Schedule
We offer flexibility to our students with our online and blended programs. Our Master’s Degree students are able to pursue their degree on-campus and 100% online. Our Bachelor’s Degree students have the option of taking their classes on-campus or they can do a blended option where they can take 50% of their courses online and 50% of their courses on-campus. Both our on-campus and online students have the same curriculum requirements and are taught by the same high-caliber faculty.
Real World Experience
The Legal Studies Department believes in giving students the opportunity to integrate classroom studies with practical experience and earn credit at the same time. The Legal Studies Department’s emphasis on practical application and the political advantage of our location in Illinois’s capital city offers great professional opportunities to our students. For our bachelor’s degree students, we offer the Applied Study Term Program, which offers students internship opportunities where they can gain valuable work experience and the opportunity to meet professional contacts and earn up to eight credit hours. Our graduate students also have the opportunity to practice in the "real-world" through a clinical education experience and internships, worth up to eight credit hours.
Faculty
Our faculty bring many years of real world experience and strong educational backgrounds to the classroom. In the Legal Studies Department students are taught by faculty members, not graduate assistants. All of our faculty members have Juris Doctorate degrees and/or Ph.D.s and a broad base of professional experience and expertise.
Alumni
Our alumni have gone on to be: attorneys; government administrators; government relations directors for businesses, associations, and non-profits; legislative staff; lobbyists; state agency directors; university administrators; FBI agents; police officers; probation officers; legal analysts; court administrators; program managers; and paralegals, among other professions. Read more about our alumni on our Alumni Profiles page.
