MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Launching later this year, Middle Tennessee State University will soon offer a Master of Science in Legal Studies degree.  

In the January edition of MTSU’s television program, “Out of the Blue,” program director Sandy Benson discusses the new degree, in collaboration with the Nashville School of Law, designed for working professionals.  

Watch the full interview below.  

“A degree in legal studies is something that’s being offered by universities across the United States because business has become more complex and regulated. Businesspeople realized they needed to understand more about the law, but didn’t necessarily need to become lawyers, but be able to spot legal issues, analyze the law and communicate more effectively with their legal team,” explained Benson, a professor of accounting.  

In 2022, MTSU commissioned a study to assess the demand for this kind of program among working professionals and build on MTSU’s institutional strengths. 

“We teamed up with the Nashville School of Law, an outstanding institution that’s been training lawyers since 1911, the same year MTSU started. They have a similar mission of affordable education,” Benson said. “We developed three concentrations in occupations that are rapidly growing in this area.”  

The three concentrations of study include business law, anti-money laundering, fraud and compliance, and entertainment law, which was developed in collaboration with the Scott Borchetta College of Media and Entertainment.  

“The Jones College has taught business law to undergraduate and graduate students for decades, and the College of Media and Entertainment brings deep expertise in entertainment law,” Benson said.  

Benson said the new program is ideal for professionals who work with contracts, compliance issues, or regulated industries and need to interpret and apply the law in a business setting.  

With a hybrid structure, students will take in-person classes at the Nashville School of Law, where they’ll be immersed in a professional legal environment and develop skills such as legal reasoning and oral advocacy. They’ll also take online and hybrid courses through MTSU, providing flexibility for working professionals. 

“This thoughtful design is really there to help enhance the knowledge students can gain, as well as practice those skills that are going to be helpful for their careers,” Benson said.  

The 30-credit-hour, non-thesis master’s degree is designed to be completed in two years.  

Courses for the new program begin in late June. Applicants will select one of the three concentrations when they apply. For more information, email Sandy.Benson@mtsu.edu.  

Ways to watch, listen

“Out of the Blue” is available anytime on the university’s YouTube channel, the True Blue TV channel, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. 

It also airs on Murfreesboro cable Channel 9 daily at 6 and 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.; NewsChannel5+ at 6:30 p.m. Sundays; WKRN+ at 7 p.m. Thursdays and noon Sundays; via streaming on MTSU’s Jazz Network on WMOT HD2 and through WMOT.org at 7 a.m. on the first Sunday of each month; and on other cable outlets in Middle Tennessee, so check local listings. 

Episodes are also available as a podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music, iHeart and as individual interview segments on primary host Spotify at https://spoti.fi/453hxg3. 

— DeAnn Hays (deann.hays@mtsu.edu)