The University of Detroit Mercy opened the first online JD program in Michigan. Law Dean Nicholas J. Schroeck spoke about exciting things to come.
“It’s 90 credits for our students to graduate, and they get all sorts of specialized education in law,” Schroeck said. “They learn constitutional law, contracts, criminal law, etc. Then they also get practical skills about how to actually be an attorney, including client representation, you know, how we interact with clients, how we work in front of the judge, the types of things you need to know to practice law in general.”
A Juris Doctor (JD) degree is a professional law degree that can be pursued after a student completes their undergraduate education and takes the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT).
This degree is a requirement for legal professions, and one of the most important things considered when offering it was accessibility. Law school schedules are intense, and for people who have other responsibilities on top of school, getting their degree can prove to be substantially more difficult. The JD program is not only online but also asynchronous.
“We saw it as a real opportunity to provide legal education to people who don’t have the ability to be in person,” Schroeck said. “They can take these classes. At night, on their weekends, at their discretion, to make sure that they can get that legal education without having to be present in our building.”
The law school’s slogan is to educate the whole lawyer, aligning with the Jesuit and Mercy values of the University’s history. With in-person classes, this is made easier by the tight-knit community.
When asked how this would change, Schroeck said, “We care about their emotional, spiritual and professional development. And we’ll provide the same level of care and thoughtfulness. In the online program, as we do in person.”
Additionally, just because this JD is online, it doesn’t mean students will be excluded from service-learning opportunities.
“If students wish to pick us up on it, we’ll have them here at the law school if they’re close enough to come in for events and for networking receptions and employer fairs,” Schroeck said. “We’ll invite our online students to participate in all of those types of opportunities and really try and build a culture that is welcoming and open and caring, just like we do with our residential students.”
The University is excited to start this program in Fall 2026, with applications already open to interested students.
“Students who are interested in law school can go to our website and apply,” Schroeck said. “We are screening applicants for our first class, which will contain twenty-five students. We hope to grow the online class size to forty-five students over the next few years. If we see that the program is really providing the access that we expect and providing opportunities that we expect.”
Detroit Mercy is not just the first in Michigan to offer an online JD program, but the 21st in the entire country.
“We’re an early adopter here, and we’re really excited about this opportunity for our future students and for the law school as a whole,” Schroeck said.