The Honors Program at Appalachian School of Law builds upon our reputation for academic excellence by promoting intellectual discourse and academic scholarship among students, providing opportunities for engagement with faculty and honored guests, and recognizing our top students. 

How the Honors Program Benefits Our Students

Students who successfully complete the Honors Program will be recognized at graduation and will receive a notation on their official transcript.

Honors Program students will receive a range of possible experiences throughout their law school careers, such as:

  • Preferential registration for certain upper-level electives deemed by the Curriculum Committee to lead to clerkship opportunities
  • Preferential identification for research assistant and/or teaching assistant opportunities
  • Opportunities for special independent research projects
  • Opportunities for presentation of scholarly research and writing to the law school community
  • Mentoring opportunities
  • Development of seminars and/or independent study for Honors Program students

Honors Program Eligibility

Students who qualify for the Honors Program are identified when applying to ASL and will be automatically enrolled in the Honors Program upon matriculation at the school. Students who were not eligible for the Honors Program upon matriculation may become qualified at the completion of their first year of law school and will be invited to join the Honors Program at the beginning of their second year. 

Eligibility for the Honors Program upon matriculation at ASL requires the applicant to have earned:

  • An LSAT score of 157 or higher, or
  • An LSAT score of 155 or higher and an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.4, or
  • An LSAT score of 153 or higher and a GPA of at least 3.6

Students who did not become members of the Honors Program upon matriculation at ASL may become eligible in their second year if they earn a cumulative law school GPA of 3.5 or higher and have been offered and accepted an invitation to join the Appalachian Journal of Law.

Maintaining Honors Program Status

To complete the Honors Program, students must maintain their academic performance throughout the law school program. At the end of the first year of law school, Honors Program students must maintain a law school GPA of 3.6 or higher, or a 3.3 GPA plus have been invited and accepted an invitation to join the Appalachian Journal of Law.

At the conclusion of the second year of law school, Honors Program students must maintain a law school cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 or 3.3 and continued participation in the Journal.

For more information, contact Professor Dawn Figueiras, the director of the Honors Program.