Master of Studies in Law (M.S.L.) is a master's degree offered by some law schools to students who wish to study the law but do not want to become attorneys.The degree has several variants, including a Master of Studies in Law degree (at the University of Toronto and at the University of Pittsburgh), for example, or a Master in the Study of Law (at Ohio State). Georgetown Law will be adding a Masters of Studies in Law (MSL) degree for journalists beginning in 2007-08 academic year. In March 2007 The Ohio Board of Regents approved M.S.L. Degree for the University of Dayton School of Law. Drexel planned to offer a Master of Legal Studies program, but that appears to be on hold as of early 2007. Arizona State University offers a Master of Legal Studies (M.L.S.). The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, and the Albany Law School in New York, both offer M.S. degrees in several concentrations. The Vermont Law School offers The Master of Studies in Environmental Law (M.S.E.L.) degree.
M.S.L. programs typically last one academic year and put students through the same regimen as a first-year J.D. student. M.S.L. students study such staples as constitutional law, torts, contracts, civil procedure, and other requirements alongside regular law students, writing the same papers and taking the same exams. But they graduate after accumulating two semesters of credit instead of six.
M.S.L. programs are usually designed for academics who hold Ph.D.s in a discipline related to the law, and who want to add a legal dimension to scholarship.