Students may apply to spend a semester abroad during their fourth, fifth or sixth semesters of law school. Students should make every effort to have completed distribution requirements prior to the semester abroad. Before submitting the application for study abroad, students must schedule a meeting with the Dean of Students for verification that all graduation requirements will be met. 

3Ls planning to study abroad during their final semester of law school are advised to verify that their proposed program will ensure return home in time for graduation and bar certification, which is generally on or around June 1.

The application for study abroad for both the semester exchange programs and for independent study abroad should be completed through the office of graduate and international programs and must be accompanied by a statement of purpose, a current resume or CV and a letter of recommendation from a Cardozo professor. Applications to study abroad during a fall semester are due by March 1st; for a spring semester, applications are due by October 15th. Students should submit complete application materials to the Senior Program Director, Pamela Serota via e-mail pamela.serota@yu.edu. Students are notified if they are approved for study abroad approximately one month later.

In some cases, students may receive permission to study abroad at other institutions through an individual study abroad program.  Students must make a compelling case that their educational objectives may be met at the other institution but not at Cardozo. 

Students interested in studying abroad in a program not covered by a Cardozo exchange have two options:

• Direct enrollment into the foreign university law school: Students selecting this option must provide certification that the foreign law school is officially recognized in that country as legal education and must seek admission into the foreign law school.  Students are responsible for ensuring that the classes will be available and that the foreign calendar works with the Cardozo system.  Those interested in this option may begin research into foreign law schools through the Internet Legal Research Group's Guide to Study Abroad by clicking on the region of interest under "Index of All Foreign Law Schools."
• Through an ABA approved semester abroad program coordinated by an American law school: Please note that these programs will be largely composed of other American students and will not be direct enrollment in a foreign law school. Please see the ABA foreign study website for more information. 

In the past few years, Cardozo students have arranged independent study abroad programs at the following institutions:

• Fudan University, Shanghai 
• Kyiv-Mohyla University, Ukraine
• National University of Singapore
• Tsinghua University, Beijing
• Universidad de Chile, Santiago
• University of Copenhagen, Denmark
• The American University of Cairo

Cardozo students have also studied abroad in ABA-approved programs through:

• Temple University in Japan
• Pepperdine University in London

Students interested in pursuing an independent study abroad opportunity must fill out the application for study abroad above and should make an appointment to see the Office of Graduate and International Programs to discuss their options.