CHICAGO – Northwestern University School of Law will offer an accelerated, two-year program for law degrees starting in 2009, becoming the only law school among top-tier institutions to offer both two- and three-year programs, university officials said.

The accelerated track will require the same number of credits as the three-year program, but will cost less because the study will take place in a compressed five-semester period.

The new program is aimed at high achievers eager to begin their law careers, Dean David Van Zandt said, noting that Northwestern will require accelerated candidates to have at least two years of post-undergraduate, full-time work experience.

The plan requires two new courses for both two-year and three-year degree candidates. They will cover analytic skills like accounting, finance and statistics, and “legal services behavior,” which will involve social networks, teamwork, leadership and project management.

---