Study Abroad

Hofstra Law offers an exciting, ABA-approved summer study abroad program in Pisa, Italy. Hofstra Law also offers a three-week winter intersession study abroad program in Curaçao, the Dutch Caribbean, in cooperation with the University of Baltimore School of Law.

These programs are designed to introduce students to a broad array of transnational legal issues. Each program includes courses that focus on international or comparative law, as well as extensive interaction with local students, faculty and members of the local legal community. Faculty in our study abroad programs have frequently included U.S. Supreme Court justices and other highly distinguished jurists and law professors.

Students who attend Hofstra Law’s study abroad programs have a unique opportunity to gain a rich understanding of foreign legal institutions and to appreciate the cultural dimensions of lawyering in a global environment.

In addition to our study abroad program, we also offer several exchange student opportunities (through our membership in the European-American Consortium for Legal Education) and a fully online language development resource run in partnership with Rosetta Stone.

Please note that a student’s enrollment in a program of study abroad approved for credit by Hofstra University may be considered enrollment at Hofstra for the purpose of applying for assistance under Title IV, HEA federal financial aid programs.

In accordance with Paragraph I.A.3. of the American Bar Association’s Criteria for Student Study at a Foreign Institution as amended February 2020, the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University sets forth the following educational objectives that it strives to achieve in permitting its students to study at foreign institutions for credit toward the J.D. degree:

At the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, we believe in the importance of preparing our J.D. students for practice in an increasingly globalized legal landscape. In addition to offering our innovative Transnational Law course as part of our first-year curriculum, we have developed arrangements with foreign universities that allow our students to gain firsthand exposure to the laws and legal mechanisms of foreign nations. By providing our J.D. students with these opportunities, Hofstra Law seeks to achieve the following educational objectives:

1. equip our students with the necessary skills to recognize and navigate complex international legal issues in our growing globalized context;
2. allow our students to learn about a foreign legal system’s treatment of an area of law that is of particular interest;
3. deepen our students’ understanding of the American legal system by analyzing it and comparing it to a foreign legal system; and,
4. empower our students to immerse themselves in a foreign language and culture to help them better interface and relate with future clients of diverse backgrounds.