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Yesenia Rivera’s husband was on active duty and would rotate stations every three years. She lived in Germany with her husband and six children while she attended Mitchell Hamline School of Law through the blended-learning enrollment option.
“This is the only way I could have ever gone to law school because of our careers,” Yesenia said. “The reason I chose Mitchell Hamline was it was the only vehicle that was ABA-approved and allowed me, living overseas, to complete my dream.”
Blended learning allows students to earn their J.D. partly online, from anywhere in the world. The part-time program requires students to come to campus – in St. Paul, Minnesota — a few weeks per year and spend the rest of the time studying online, on a schedule that they determine. That means while they’re away from campus students don’t have to be at their computers for live class sessions at specified times, which can be a huge help for people who are multiple time zones away from where the school is located.
Blended-learning students can customize their schedules and specialize in a range of content areas. They are taught by the same full-time, tenured professors who teach in the on-campus program, and when they graduate they are eligible to take the bar exam in all 50 states.
In addition to making it possible for people to complete their law studies from any location, Mitchell Hamline has also removed the major financial barriers that can make it difficult for members of the military and their spouses to attend law school. Veterans and their spouses or dependents eligible for the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill© Yellow Ribbon Program can have their Mitchell Hamline education paid for in full.
Veterans who served at least three years in active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, can have their tuition and fees fully covered by a combination of funds from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the VA’s Yellow Ribbon Program, and Mitchell Hamline. There is no limit to the number of qualifying students who can take advantage of the program. Service members cannot be on active duty if they or their spouse want to participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program. More information on Mitchell Hamline’s participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program can be found on the school’s website.
As for Yesenia, she graduated from Mitchell Hamline in January 2018 and is awaiting her results from the July 2019 bar exam. She called being able to complete her law degree “a dream come true.”
More information on Mitchell Hamline’s blended-learning enrollment option can be found here.