Executive LLM Program

As part of the expansion of the Executive LL.M. program (“ELLM”), we are pleased to announce our first concentration! Building on the launch of BU Law’s new online Graduate Tax Program, beginning in September 2012 our students are now able to complete a 10 credit Concentration in International Taxation, offered wholly online in tandem with BU’s award-winning Office of Distance Education. This concentration consists of three courses: International Tax (4 credits); Corporate Tax (4 credits); and Transfer Pricing (2 credits). We believe this concentration offers numerous advantages to our students, including  providing a background in this important area of international business practice, while also expanding even further the flexibility inherent in our innovative degree program. While this allows students to take some of their courses entirely online, all three courses will also count towards the ELLM degree. Completion of the ELLM requires fulfilment of all degree requirements (20 credits, including 2 Colloquia, IBT&A, and Contracts and Corporations unless waived), but as of this summer we now require two residential sessions of 7 credits, for a total of 14 residential credits, allowing students to complete the remainder of the 20 credit requirement through the Concentration in International Taxation, for a total of 14 residential and 10 online credits. Of course, students may continue to complete the program entirely through blended-learning, residential courses. Students will enroll in these courses through the ELLM office, as they do for all ELLM courses.

In order to complete the Concentration, students must take Federal Tax as a prerequisite or co-requisite for Corporate and International Tax, unless waived on the basis of previous coursework or professional experience, and as long as a student then completes the course in International Tax this four-credit course will likewise count towards the ELLM degree. Tuition is charged at the regular ELLM rate. In addition, students may take any other online Graduate Tax Program courses (subject to prerequisites), such as Lifecycle of  a Business Venture or Tax Accounting as free-standing courses and receive BU credit for doing so, but only the courses listed above will count towards the ELLM degree requirements. The response so far to this initiative has been very positive, and indeed one of our recent graduates has already requested that he be allowed to enroll in the Concentration!

This is only one of several exciting initiatives that we will be announcing in the near future–you can look forward to another announcement next month–but I hope you will agree with me that this marks a significant and atttractive expansion of the Executive LL.M. in International Business Law. We are gratified by the growth and increasing global reach of this program, and we will strive to continue ensuring that BU Law remains at the forefront of executive, blended-learning and online graduate legal education. As always, please contact us with any questions or comments you may have on this or other subjects. For application information, please visit our admissions  page. 

Upwards and onwards!