Green Mountain Outlook

Middlebury — Vermont Law School and Middlebury College have signed an agreement that guarantees qualified Middlebury students and graduates admission to VLS.

Both institutions will benefit―VLS administrators anticipate an increase in the number of strong applicants and Middlebury students will have a wider range of opportunities following graduation.

The agreement is one of several steps that VLS has taken in recent years to expand coordination with undergraduate institutions. Those efforts also include full scholarships for one or two students from Middlebury and five other schools. There is no limit as to the number of Middlebury students or alumni who may apply to VLS.

“The agreements are good recruiting tools for these undergraduate schools and they keep VLS on the radar of pre-law advisors and faculty and top students who may be interested in law school,” said Kathy Hartman, VLS’s associate dean for enrollment management.

“It’s a natural fit given Middlebury’s strong environmental studies program and student involvement in sustainability issues as well as VLS’s ranking as the No. 1 environmental law school in the country,” said Nan Jenks-Jay, Middlebury College dean of environmental affairs. “As students are thinking more in advance about attending graduate and professional schools, these collaborative institutional relationships become attractive options for them.”

The agreement also applies to students who have completed graduate degrees from one of Middlebury’s programs or schools, including the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Middlebury Language Schools, and Bread Loaf School of English.

“For example, it’s an ideal match for Monterey graduates in the international environmental policy program,” added Jenks-Jay. “What we are really doing is providing additional opportunities for all of our students following graduation.”

VLS has signed similar agreements with 11 undergraduate schools and another two are in progress. The contract with Middlebury is unusual since it includes students and alumni of the undergraduate college as well as those who have completed Middlebury’s graduate programs. The agreements are intended to improve coordination between VLS and undergraduate schools whose students are interested in attending law school. Under the agreements, students and graduates at the undergraduate institutions are guaranteed admission to VLS if their GPA and LSAT credentials are equal to or stronger than the median for VLS’s entering class. Their undergraduate files must also contain no evidence or concerns about their character that would make them inappropriate candidates for law school. Ten students have enrolled at VLS under the agreements since the program started in 2004.