Pre-Law Certificate

The Certificate in Pre-Law Skills and Professional Values provides undergraduate students with foundational knowledge about the legal profession and its core values and helps them develop the academic skills and work ethic needed to be competitive in law school and the legal profession.
  • Enroll for the certificate

    Please follow the instructions below very carefully to ENROLL for the Pre-Law Skills and Professional Values Certificate:

    • You must have completed 60 credits at any college/university prior to enrolling for this certificate. You may take or have taken courses towards the certificate before then, but wait until you have completed 60 credits to enroll for the certificate. You must be enrolled in the certificate to register for POS 3652 Law and the Legal Profession.
    • Students who have 90 credits or more will need dean’s designee approval. This approval is based on whether or not the certificate will delay graduation or cause the student to go over the Excess Credit Surcharge threshold. Meet with your assigned advisor in your major to check your information and have them complete the PDC/RDX hold box on the form. The advisor will then seek the dean's designee approval.
    • You must be a degree seeking student at FIU.
    • There is no minimum GPA requirement.

    Complete the application for the certificate here and submit to your assigned advisor.
  • Recommended Coursework (21 credits)

    All certificate courses must be completed with a grade of "C" or better. Requests to apply for transfer credit must be made in writing and approved by the certificate director.

    Recommended Prerequisites

    Students are encouraged, but not required, to complete the following two courses prior to enrolling in the certificate program.

    POS 2042— American Government
    SPC 2608—Public Speaking

    Core Courses (6 credits)

    1. POS 3652—Law and the Legal Profession
    2. Students can choose one of the following:
      CJL 3512—The Courts
      POS 3283—The Judicial Process

    Skills Courses (15 credits)
    1. Analytical Skills (3 credits)students can choose one of the following:
      PHI 2100 —Introduction to Logic
      PHI 2103 —Critical Thinking
      PHI 4130 —Symbolic Logic
    2. Writing Skills (6 credits)students can choose two of the following:
      ENC 3311 —Advanced Writing and Research
      ENC 3354 —Writing as Social Action
      ENC 3371 —Rhetorical Theory and Practice
      ENC 4331 —Writing, Rhetoric and Community
      ENC 3465—Legal Writing
      POS 4784 —Analytic Writing in Political Science
    3. Verbal Skills (3 credits)students can choose one of the following:
      COM 4462 —Conflict Management
      SPC 3230 —Rhetorical Communication: A Theory of Civil Discourse
      SPC 3513 —Argumentation and Debate
      SPC 3602 —Advanced Public Speaking
      SPC 3540 —Persuasion
    4. Legal Skills (3 credits)students can choose one of the following:
      POS 3603 —Constitutional Law: Powers
      POS 3604 —Constitutional Law: Limitations
  • To Be Awarded the Certificate

    This certificate will not be awarded automatically. Please follow the instructions below very carefully to be AWARDED the certificate:

    1. After you have applied for graduation, email prelaw@fiu.edu and provide your graduation date. (You must have earned a "C" or better in all certificate courses.)
    2. Please check your transcripts to ensure that you are "awarded" the Pre-Law Skills and Professional Value Certificate about 4 - 6 weeks after your graduation. If not, please contact the PLATO Director.