Online Law degrees

[Alpha]

JD = Juris Doctorate

How is that not a doctorate? It is NOT a master's degree. A master's in law is a LLM = Master of Law.

JD is 80+ credits.

All you need to do is google the question and you will see that there is no real consensus on this matter.  You are welcome to your opinion but you must acknowledge that there are those who disagree.

[ss20ts]

JD = Juris Doctorate

How is that not a doctorate? It is NOT a master's degree. A master's in law is a LLM = Master of Law.

JD is 80+ credits.

All you need to do is google the question and you will see that there is no real consensus on this matter.  You are welcome to your opinion but you must acknowledge that there are those who disagree.

Actually I looked at several law schools. The credits ranged from 83 up to 105. All call it a Juris Doctorate. All also offer the LLM in some form. I'll stick with the professionals over a rando on a forum.

[Jonathan Whatley]

Roger Enriquez, a JD professor of CJ himself, writes in "The Vanishing JD—How ACJS Certification Ensures Extinction of the Species" (Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 18(2) [July 2007]) :

"the much maligned Juris Doctor degree is all but extinct in many CJ departments. Moreover, new job postings are nearly universal in their condemnation of the JD only candidate. Language in job ads like 'JD is not a terminal degree' or 'JD alone is not suitable' is as ubiquitous as backpacks on campuses."

[evanmonast]

Roger Enriquez, a JD professor of CJ himself, writes in "The Vanishing JD—How ACJS Certification Ensures Extinction of the Species" (Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 18(2) [July 2007]) :

"the much maligned Juris Doctor degree is all but extinct in many CJ departments. Moreover, new job postings are nearly universal in their condemnation of the JD only candidate. Language in job ads like 'JD is not a terminal degree' or 'JD alone is not suitable' is as ubiquitous as backpacks on campuses."

I see, I hope I can find an affordable online PhD in CJ or a related field then. Thank you for the notice.

[ThatBankDude]

ChrisJ over on DegreeInfo did his PhD in CJ at Liberty University. He has also received a few Tenure Track professorship offers if I remember correctly. Liberty may be worth looking into.

[sanantone]

I'm a former criminal justice instructor.

Criminal justice is a social science that combines elements of sociology, economics, psychology, and law. Law is a humanities subject related to philosophy, and law degree programs teach you how to apply law in the real world.

When PhDs in criminology and criminal justice were hard to come by, schools would hire people with law degrees, but they mostly hired people with PhDs in sociology. Now that there are plenty of PhDs, the general consensus is that a JD should not be considered equivalent to a doctoral degree in criminal justice/criminology or a related social science.

Since community colleges hire people with master's degrees, a JD might be fine, but it's overkill. A master's degree in criminal justice would be faster, cheaper, and more relevant. Most of the courses in criminal programs don't delve deep into law. CJ and criminology are mostly about studying why people commit crimes and how to stop them from committing crimes.

The general consensus is that the JD is a long master's degree despite its name. The name was chosen to make the legal field appear more prestigious, but the JD is not much different from an MDiv, MSW, master's in clinical mental health counseling, master's in architecture, or any other long master's degree program. The federal government considers the JD a master's degree and the LLM the equivalent of a professional doctorate. The LLM has its name because the JD used to be an LLB. In other countries, law programs are just long baccalaureate programs.

[Alpha]

JD = Juris Doctorate

How is that not a doctorate? It is NOT a master's degree. A master's in law is a LLM = Master of Law.

JD is 80+ credits.

All you need to do is google the question and you will see that there is no real consensus on this matter.  You are welcome to your opinion but you must acknowledge that there are those who disagree.

Actually I looked at several law schools. The credits ranged from 83 up to 105. All call it a Juris Doctorate. All also offer the LLM in some form. I'll stick with the professionals over a rando on a forum.

Of course the law schools want it to be a doctoral degree.  It's completely self-serving.  They're hardly objective. 
The J.D. stands for Juris Doctor. However, this is not a doctorate. It is a professional degree that is equivalent to an LLB degree in other countries. Essentially this is the entry level degree to practice law, provided of course if you pass the Bar exam. An advanced degree in law would be the LLM (Masters) and finally the PhD. Most PhD’s teach law at the University level.  If you ask a PhD whether a JD is a doctoral degree they will say no.  I know that doesn't change the fact that lawyers will say it's a doctoral degree but, like I said, there is not universal agreement on this issue.  And by the way, you too are just a rando on the internet.  Don't be condescending.

[ThatBankDude]

I feel we are splitting hairs in regards to the JD talk. This is no different than an MBBS being a degree earned for someone who is called a Doctor and becomes a surgeon, etc. So long as the degree you earn gets you to where you want to be professionally, who cares what others think?

[bjcheung77]

I feel we are splitting hairs in regards to the JD talk. This is no different than an MBBS being a degree earned for someone who is called a Doctor and becomes a surgeon, etc. So long as the degree you earn gets you to where you want to be professionally, who cares what others think?

This ^^, many countries have MBBS straight from high school (Cuba for example). I mean it's the first professional degree prospective doctors will need to take to become licensed and certified in that country. I wouldn't really think much about it, some may call it a graduate degree, some will call it a professional degree and others an undergraduate degree, it won't really matter as long as it gets you to that goal of becoming a physician.

[jamshid666]

I feel we are splitting hairs in regards to the JD talk. This is no different than an MBBS being a degree earned for someone who is called a Doctor and becomes a surgeon, etc. So long as the degree you earn gets you to where you want to be professionally, who cares what others think?

This ^^, many countries have MBBS straight from high school (Cuba for example).  I mean it's the first professional degree prospective doctors will need to take to become licensed and certified in that country.  I wouldn't really think much about it, some may call it a graduate degree, some will call it a professional degree and others an undergraduate degree, it won't really matter as long as it gets you to that goal of becoming a physician.

All of this hair-splitting is as fun as discussing the difference between NA v. RA, professional v. academic, and titular propio v. titular oficial. All of them offer legitimate paths, but may or may not be appropriate for your long-term goals.