National University of Singapore Semester Exchange Program
Program Description Columbia Law School has established a semester exchange program with the National University of Singapore (NUS) under which up to two Columbia Law students may spend a semester in Singapore acquiring up to 13 credits toward the J.D. degree. Students may choose from a wide variety of courses, including Law Relating to Economic Development in the ASEAN countries, Human Rights Law, The Civil Law Tradition, Chinese Commercial Law, Corporate Finance Law, among others.
Located about 12 km from the city center, the University's main campus at Kent Ridge occupies approximately 150 hectares of one of the most scenic areas in Singapore on a ridge of low hills, the highest point being about 250 feet above sea level. The National University of Singapore, established over 80 years ago, has the only law faculty in the country.
The program is available to students in two semesters: the first semester is from late July to late November, and the second semester is from early January through early May. The semesters consist of twelve weeks of teaching; two weeks of review and a two-week exam period.
Each year up to two Columbia Law students are selected to study at Singapore for one semester and an equal number of students from NUS study at Columbia. Applications from full-time Columbia students are accepted in early March for the following academic year. As part of the application, students must submit a resume, transcript, and a statement describing their educational objectives and reasons for participating in the program. Selections are made based upon the strength of the statement, academic record at Columbia, and faculty recommendations.
Course descriptions and a schedule of classes are available at the National University of Singapore website: http://law.nus.edu.sg/. Columbia students must take 15 NUS credits (5 offerings) in order to receive 13 Columbia credits. 3-credit courses generally meet for two hours of lecture, plus one hour of tutorials; thus students will generally be in class for fifteen hours per week. As with all of the Law School's foreign programs, students earn credit only for those courses offered through the Faculty of Law.
Requirements for Student Performance & Grading Methods
As stated above, classes are conducted as both lectures and tutorials (similar to seminars). Attendance is crucial for successful completion of courses, and may be mandatory for certain offerings. Most courses require a three-hour written exam at the end of the semester (computers may not be used for taking exams). While the upper-class courses may allow for an open-book exam, the first year courses are generally closed-book. NUS uses a letter grading system: A, B, C, D and F. Columbia grants credit for only those courses passed with a C or above. Whenever possible, Columbia reviews all written work in examinations and papers from students' semester at NUS, and acceptance of any grade for any course taken in the program is subject to determination by Columbia Law School. In addition, students must submit written reports on their course work every four weeks for review by the CLS faculty sponsor. Students who fail to comply with this requirement will not receive credit regardless of their grades at NUS. Transcripts are provided by NUS to Columbia, however, students' Columbia transcripts reflect only credit for classes passed. Degree Requirements Please note: participation in an exchange program or semester study abroad program does not exempt students from any requirements for the J.D. degree (i.e. pro bono service, writing credits etc.)
Please note: participation in an exchange program or semester study abroad program does not exempt students from any requirements for the J.D. degree (i.e. pro bono service, etc).
The National University of Singapore has reserved the right to cancel any course for reasons of insufficient student registration. If changes are announced prior to a student's departure from the U.S., and the student is unable to identify satisfactory substitute courses, the student may choose to withdraw from the program. If cancellation occurs after the student has arrived in Singapore, substitute courses must be selected and submitted for approval to the Dean of International Programs and Graduate Legal Studies of Columbia Law School.
Students participating in a semester study abroad program are eligible to receive up to 7 of the 10 required academic points in international, foreign or comparative law. Students should contact the Parker School upon completion of the program to ascertain how many credits will be awarded for their foreign study.
