Graduate Tax Program

About the Graduate Tax Program

#1 Graduate Tax Program on the West Coast (U.S. News)

#5 nationwide (TaxProf)

One of a kind, practice-oriented tax law program

The Graduate Tax Program at the University of California, Irvine School of Law offers an innovative curriculum that instills students with both the doctrinal depth and the practical skills needed to practice tax law at the highest levels, in the United States or abroad.

The Graduate Tax Program aims to produce graduates who are prepared for careers as tax attorneys, judges, tax administrators and policy advocates, as well as markedly enhance the tax skills of those who are already members of the tax profession.

In designing its innovative curriculum, the program’s founding tax faculty consulted tax practitioners, government administrators, tax policy advocates and other industry experts to develop a world-class educational experience at one of the premier law schools in the United States. At the center of the curriculum is a mandatory practical tax skills requirement, which is completed through tax externships, tax clinics, or specially designed tax classes. Ours is the only program in the United States that makes practical tax skills an inherent, mandatory part of the academic curriculum.

World Renowned Faculty

The core full-time founding tax faculty of UCI Law’s Graduate Tax Program comprises world-renowned, lauded experts in their fields. All member of our founding tax faculty have practical tax experience and have gained significant experience teaching full-time at other graduate tax programs around the country before joining the faculty of UCI Law.

In addition, our tax lecturers in law are all leading practitioners in major law firms, corporations, and government agencies. The founding tax faculty has taken great care to recruit lecturers who will actively contribute to the program and who will be genuinely interested in their students' academic and professional success.

Commitment to Student Success

The founding tax faculty received broad leeway to design their “dream tax program.” This meant designing a new graduate tax program focused on student success and practical tax application. Our faculty is committed to helping our students thrive in the classroom and are dedicated to empowering them to reach their educational and professional goals.

Impeccable Reputation

Individually and collectively, the faculty, staff, students, alums, and friends of the Law School have made UCI Law a place of excellence and innovation in teaching, scholarship, and public service. UCI Law had the highest ever debut ranking in U.S. News & World Report, and now is ranked No. 21 overall. A vast majority of UCI Law students rate their overall educational experience as “Excellent,” and report developing clearer career goals and acquiring job-related knowledge at a significantly better rate than the national average (Law School Survey of Student Engagement – LSSSE).

Small Class Sizes

Our student-faculty ratio is among the best in the country. We combine the best of a small, collegial and supportive environment with a large and lauded research institution.

State-of-the-Art Facilities

All Graduate Tax Program classes are taught in a new state-of-the-art facility, located near the UCI School of Law building. This 75,000 square-foot building includes expansive learning facilities, cutting-edge in-class technology, ample collaborative workspaces, a 3,000 square-foot ballroom, outdoor plaza, and on-site coffee shop.

Admission standards

The admissions committee carefully reviews each application it receives, and considers, among others, the applicant’s prior academic achievements, experience, and English proficiency (see “English proficiency requirements and waivers” below).

The most important factor in the admissions committee’s considerations is whether the applicant is able to demonstrate a commitment to a career in tax law or tax policy. Applicants must convincingly demonstrate a prior interest in tax law (prior practical tax experience may be helpful, but is not necessary). The personal statement and the recommendation letters play an important role in this context. An interview via Skype or in-person (if possible) may be also be required.

English proficiency requirements and waivers

Students who have earned their initial law degrees from non-U.S. schools must demonstrate a high level of English proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Applicants must arrange to take an English proficiency test (either TOEFL or IELTS) before January 31 and must have the test scores sent directly to the UC Irvine School of Law. The required minimum scores are 100 iBT (TOEFL) or 7.0 (IELTS). Applicants must submit official, current TOEFL or IELTS scores as an integral part of their application.

Applicants who are (i) residents of Australia, Canada (other than Quebec), New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom, or the United States (other than Puerto Rico) and (ii) who have completed a rigorous full-time program of at least three (3) years of post-secondary education in one of these countries, are not required to submit English test scores.

When to Apply / Admission Decisions

Applications to the Graduate Tax Program are accepted on a rolling basis. As such, admission decisions also are made on a rolling basis. However, the admissions committee starts considering applications in September of each year, for admissions to fall semester of the following year. Applicants are notified as soon as practically possible after a decision regarding their application is made.

Domestic students or foreign students who are permanent residents (green card holders) are encouraged to complete their application no later than April 1 in the year in which they plan to start their studies. For applications completed after that date, the committee may only be able to offer admittance for the following academic year.

Foreign students are encouraged to complete their application no later than February 1 in the year in which they plan to start their studies, in order to allow ample time to arrange for student visas (if admitted). For applications completed after that date, the committee may only be able to offer admittance for the following academic year.

How to Apply / Application Checklist

You can apply to the program at any time on the LSAC website. There is no fee charged for the application.

The admissions committee will not start considering your application until the application is complete. A complete application must meet all requirements listed below must be met.

• LSAC registration: You must register with the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) of the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) at www.LSAC.org. The LSAC CAS collects and validates all data, letters of recommendation, and transcripts on behalf of the applicant as a service to member law schools. Upon registering, you will be assigned a nine-digit account number by LSAC that begins with the letter L.
• Recommendation letters: You will need a minimum of two (2) letters of recommendation (submitted directly to LSAC for inclusion in your CAS report). UC Irvine Law School will allow a maximum of four (4) letters of recommendation be made available to us through your CAS account. Please be certain to designate UC Irvine Law as a recipient of these letters through your LSAC account.
• Transcripts: Please request official transcripts from your law school (and any other graduate schools, if applicable) to be sent directly to LSAC and included in your CAS account (you will find instructions on how to do so in your LSAC application).
• English proficiency test: You must arrange to take an English proficiency test before January 31 in the year of application, and have the test scores sent directly to the UC Irvine School of Law.
• Personal statement: As part of your application, you will be required to attach a personal statement reflecting your interest in tax law in general, and in studying tax law at UC Irvine in particular. A generic personal statement is almost certain to result in rejection of your application.
• Prior tax experience: Prior work experience in tax law is not required. However, we do want to understand your past engagement with tax law. As part of the application, you will be required to (1) list all tax-related courses you have taken in an academic setting, as well as your grades in these courses, and (2) any tax-related work experience (if any).
• Resume: You will be asked to upload a current resume as part of your application.

Failure to meet any of the requirements listed above may delay review of your application. Please check our FAQ page for any additional questions. You may also e-mail us with any application-related questions at GradTax@law.uci.edu.

*Please note that all of your materials, including transcripts and letters of recommendation, must be translated into English. While all official academic records must be issued in their original language, if they are not in English they must be accompanied by English translations. If the issuing institution does not offer an English translation, it is the applicant’s responsibility to make sure an English translation is provided. The translation may be done by anyone as long as it is a literal translation, and it need not be certified.

Apply

Applications are accepted starting in September each year.

UC Irvine School of Law opened its doors to students in August 2009, the first new public law school in California in more than 40 years. UCI Law seeks to create the ideal law school for the 21st century by doing the best job of training lawyers for the practice of law at the highest levels of the profession. Recruited from prestigious schools, the faculty ranked sixth in the country in scholarly impact in a recent study. The student body has admissions qualifications comparable to those of student bodies at top 20 law schools. The school’s innovative curriculum stresses hands-on learning, interdisciplinary study, and public service.

What's Special About UCI Law

EXCELLENT FACULTY

Drawn from top law schools, the faculty was ranked 7th in the nation in scholarly impact in a recent study, behind Yale, Harvard, Chicago, Stanford, NYU, and Columbia. Excellent teaching is also a high priority, and numerous faculty members have won teaching awards at their previous institutions.

CUTTING-EDGE INNOVATION

Founded in 2009, UC Irvine School of Law seeks to create the ideal law school for the 21st century by emphasizing hands-on learning, interdisciplinary study, and public service.

REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE

All students actually practice law (under careful supervision) while at UCI Law, beginning in the first-year Lawyering Skills course—where they do intake interviews at legal aid or public defender offices—and culminating with substantial client representation in an in-house legal clinic before graduation.

OUTSTANDING STUDENTS

Eighty-eight percent of UCI Law grads who sat for the bar exam in July 2012, February 2013, or July 2013 have now passed the bar in at least one jurisdiction. (To this point, we have had 134 graduates take a bar exam and 118, or 88%, have now passed.) The jurisdictions in which our graduates have passed the bar include Alaska, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

SMALL CLASSES

The student-faculty ratio is 10 to 1, which means classes are smaller and professors have more time for individual students.

ATTORNEY MENTORS

Each new student is assigned an attorney mentor from the local legal community to provide guidance in academic and career matters.

ACTIVE PRO BONO

More than 90% of students have been involved in the Pro Bono Program, participating in scores of projects in which they provided legal services under attorney supervision. Students are encouraged to log 120 pro bono hours in three years.

SATISFIED STUDENTS

The 2016 Law School Survey of Student Engagement shows that UCI Law far exceeds the national average when it comes to student satisfaction. About 95% of our students over all three classes rate their overall UCI Law experience as excellent or good, and about 95% say they would likely attend UCI Law again if they could start over.

SUCCESSFUL PLACEMENTS

Our students have, over the years, spent their summers and begun their careers in a variety of legal settings, including large, medium and small law firms, government agencies, public interest organizations, general counsel offices and other alternative careers.

PRESTIGIOUS CLERKSHIPS

Judges in a variety of federal district and appellate courts and state appellate and supreme courts have hired UCI Law students to serve as their post-graduate law clerks. These clerkships span both the country and the federal judicial system.

INCOMPARABLE LOCATION

The Law School is located in beautiful, coastal Southern California, 40 miles south of Los Angeles and 90 miles north of San Diego.