Arellano University School of Law

Classes under the four-year program is held Mondays to Fridays from 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Saturdays-Sundays 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. to allow working students the convenience of selecting a friendly schedule that would give them enough time to study. All subjects are offered every semester for both the regular school year and the 2nd semester school year. In cases where make-up classes must be held, the mornings of Saturdays and Sundays may be used provided they comply with the requirements of both the Law School and LEB. All classes held outside of their regular schedule must be approved by the Dean.

The modified Socratic method or question and answer system is the principal method of instruction used in the classroom to enable students to think clearly under pressure, to learn to analyze problem situations and develop in them a critical attitude towards the subject matter being discussed. However, due to the increase in the number of decided cases by the Supreme Court and the number of new laws enacted by Congress, faculty members are forced to adapt other modern teaching technique to be able to cover the subject matter. In such instances, the case method shall be utilized based on jurisprudence handed down by the Supreme Court. Discussions, lectures, role-playing, moot courts and other methods may be also used as additional methods of instruction in order to sharpen the lawyering skills of the students. English shall be generally used as the medium of instruction.

Students who are officially enrolled shall not be allowed to change subjects or transfer to another class, except for meritorious cases such as, but not limited to, cases where the original subject(s) enrolled have been dissolved or for reasons not attributable to the fault of the student. Adding of subjects shall only be entertained during the first fourteen (14) days from the start of regular classes. Dropping may be allowed until the midterm examination date.

Permission for a leave of absence must be sought from the Dean so as not to affect the status of the student. The period of the leave of absence must not exceed two (2) consecutive semesters at any one time. Except for clearly meritorious reasons, students whose total cumulative leaves of absence exceed four semesters shall not be allowed to re-enroll in the College. The student applying for a leave of absence must first secure a clearance for the said purpose. Students who are dropped from the roll without the benefit of a formal approval, shall be prevented from reenrolling in the future without the approval of the Dean.

1. Any student who, during the semester, exceeds the maximum number of absences, whether excused or unexcused, may be dropped from the subject concerned if he has incurred more than:

24 hours of absences in a 6 unit subject

20 hours of absences in a 5 unit subject

16 hours of absences in a 4 unit subject

12 hours of absences in a 3 unit subject

8 hours of absences in a 2 unit subject

4 hours of absences in a 1 unit subject

In cases where the academic proficiency of the student is exceptional (belonging to the top 25% of the class), the Professor may make an exception to such a ruling.

2. Tardiness of twenty-five (25) minutes by the student for every one (1) hour of the subject class hours shall be considered as an absence. Should the faculty member decide to impose another type of sanction in exercise of his academic freedom, then he must first secure the approval of the Dean and pre-inform his class.

3. Time lost by late enrollment shall be considered as time lost due to absence.

4. Excuse from any absence for any reason whatsoever does not absolve the student the student from compliance with any subject requirement.

5. If a professor fails to arrive in class within the time pertaining to the first 25% of the total class hours allotted for the subject for a particular day, the class beadle shall immediately inform the Records Section which shall get the attendance and dismiss the class. In the meantime, students waiting for their professors are expected to study inside the classroom and maintain silence at all times. If the professor informs the Records Section of his delay, students must wait for the professor.

1. The system of grading to be used shall be numerical percentage values (65%, 75%, 78%, etc.)

2. The failure of the student to take the final examination for a valid reason shall be the only ground for the giving of a grade of incomplete (INC) to the student. This shall automatically be converted to a 68% after one (1) year should the student fail to complete such grade preferably within the next succeeding semester. It shall be the duty of every student to follow-up and secure all his grades from the Registrar's Office.

3. Students who fail to take the mid-term examinations for any valid reason as scheduled shall not be given special mid-term examinations. The final examination grade of a student, to be deducted by 10 points, shall be treated as the mid-term examination grade.

4. The final grade shall be computed by assigning the following percentages/values:

Final Exams: 40% Mid-Term Exams: 30%
Class Standing: 30%

The professor may adopt his own system of computing the final grade but the system must be approved by the Dean and the students must be informed of the said system at the beginning of the semester.

5. Removal, special, and reconsideration examinations shall not be allowed except for clearly exceptional and meritorious reasons, which shall be subject to the approval of the Dean.

6. All requests for re-evaluation or re-computation of grades must be in writing, addressed to the Dean, stating clearly the reasons therefor, and must be made within five (5) class days after notice of release of said grades by the Office of the Registrar. Such request for re-evaluation of grade shall be referred to the professor concerned for comment prior to the Dean's action therein.

7. Students are strictly prohibited from communicating directly with the professors, verbally or in writing, whether personally or through intermediaries, regarding any request for reconsideration of grades. Violation thereof shall be reported by the professor to the Dean and shall mean automatic denial of the request.

1. Subject to the other rules herein stipulated, students may be allowed to drop any subject before the scheduled mid-term examinations, after completion of the dropping form to be signed by the professor and the Dean. Grades of these students shall be reflected in the grading sheet as "DRP".

2. It shall be the responsibility of the students to determine the end result of their request for dropping. Approval of a request to drop any subject is not automatic.

3. A student who completely withdraws during the semester but before the final examinations, by officially dropping all his subjects, will receive a grade of "CW" for all the said subjects, provided that he has fully paid all the fees for the said semester. The student concerned must secure a clearance for said purpose before the application for complete withdrawal shall be acted upon. A student who fails to officially withdraw from all his subjects shall receive a grade of 68%.

4. Dropping after the midterm examinations may be allowed if all the subjects will be dropped. This is equivalent to withdrawal with leave of absence. Individual subjects being dropped shall only be allowed if the class standing grade is at least 75%. However, should the class standing grade of the subject be lower than 75%, the subject shall be given a final grade of 68%.

The General Weighted Average or GWA is the average of grades in all subjects taken, whether passed or failed, in AUSL or in any other law school, except as may be provided herein. It shall be computed by multiplying the obtained grade in a subject by the assigned units for the subject. All computed grades are added up and the total divided by the total number of units to arrive at the GWA. The GWA shall be used for the granting of discounts, scholarships and academic honors to deserving students. It shall also be used in determining the rank of any given student in the law school and how he is to be educated well enough to pass the bar exams. It shall be used as an assessment tool in determining the academic worthiness of the students. Should management decide to do so, the GWA may also be used in the issuance of future academic policies. In such cases, GWA shall be used as one of the diagnostic tools in assessing the academic proficiency of the students. Year levels shall be assigned

GWA's which students shall use as an aim or a goal which they must reach in order to advance to the next year level. A student who fails to meet his assigned GWA for his year level shall be encouraged to study harder and shall be required to attend diagnostic classes. English comprehension examinations shall be administered to all freshmen at the start of a semester. Those who passed shall be allowed to proceed with their regular schedule while those who did not make it shall be required to attend English tutorial classes. Mastery of the English language is the key to mastery of the law.

A failing grade in any subject when subsequently re-enrolled and passed shall no longer be included in the computation of the GWA. However, if the subject with the failed grade has not yet been passed, the failed grade(s) shall be included in the computation of the GWA. This computation shall be for the use of the GWA in the application of future Retention Policies and shall in no way be used to compute for the GWA to be used for Academic purposes. A student must possess the required GWA of at least 79% in order to be considered before enrolling in any review class.

The rule is that the GWA of incoming Sophomore student must at least be 79% for admission into the 2nd year. For incoming Junior student, the GWA must at least be 80% for admission while the GWA of incoming Senior student must at least be 81% to entitle the student for admission into the graduating class. The Dean reserves the right to adjust the admission GWA requirement. Students transferring from other schools must likewise have a GWA based on the year level of entry.

A student may be denied re-admission or required to repeat certain passed subject in any of the following cases:

1 Failure to meet the GWA.

2 Failure to pass at least 50% of the academic units enrolled in any semester.

3 Failure in the same subject for three times.

4 Grades are too low.

5 If, being on probation, he fails in any of the subjects he is taking.

6 Failure to comply with the conditions set forth in the waiver for re-enrollment.

No student may be allowed to take any subject in the fourth year of the four-year curriculum and the fourth year, second semester of the five-year curriculum without first having taken and completed all undergraduate subjects.

A student who has taken and passed all subjects in his curriculum to complete 3rd year, and that the units in all the remaining subjects shall fall within the maximum limit allowed by the Legal Education Board (LEB) for 2 semesters of his curriculum, then he shall be classified as a Candidate for Graduation and required to accomplish and file an application for graduation within the first month of the semester for evaluation and review of his credentials required for graduation which are, but not limited to, the following: Birth Certificate in Security Paper issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO); Original Official Transcript of Records in the undergraduate course with the remark "for further studies", the Official Transcript of Records of the law school last attended (if transferee) and the C -1 or Certificate to enroll in a law school (if transferee) and payment of the corresponding fees required for application for graduation.

The Diploma shall be proof that the graduate has successfully satisfied all the requirements leading to the degree specified. Unlike the official record of grades that can be issued upon request, the diploma signed by the Registrar, the Dean and the University President shall only be issued once to graduates.

The maximum period for finishing the 4-year program is twelve (12) semesters.

Any student who desires to sever his relations with the College shall file an application for Honorable Dismissal and shall secure the necessary clearance before favorable action may be made.

1. The Academic Awards

(1) Students who complete their course with the following minimum GWA grade with no failing grade or any other academic deficiency shall be graduated with honors as follows:

Summa Cum Laude 95%

Magna Cum Laude 92%

Cum Laude 88%

At any rate, the Board of Trustees reserves the right to waive any of the conditions imposed for compelling reasons.

(2) The following awards are given to those who receive the highest cumulative GWA not lower than eighty-five (85%) percent without any failing grade, during their stay in the law school, provided that they must have taken at least eighty (80%) percent of their subjects at the Arellano University School of Law:

Class Valedictorian - This honor goes to the student who obtains the highest average in the entire course.

Class Salutatorian - This honor goes to the student who obtains the second highest average in the entire course.

Honorable Mentions � The honors are given to students who obtained the third highest average onward.

(3) The Chairman Florentino Cayco, Jr. Award

An annual award given in memory of the late University Chairman which is awarded to the student who has obtained the highest GWA average in the entire course among those that took and finished all their subjects in AUSL without any failing grade.

2. The Special Awards

These awards are given for special achievement in certain areas, as follows: The Leadership Award

The Foundation bestows a prize annually to the member of the graduating class whose scholarship demonstrates special interest and proficiency in the law and whose conduct and personality give evidence of leadership and promise in the legal profession.

The Loyalty Awards

These awards are given to those students who continuously studied in the University from elementary, high school, pre-law up to law school.

3. Order of the Flaming Arrows (OFA)

(a) An honor society, known as the Order of the Flaming Arrows, shall be composed of students from the sophomore to the senior year with at least two (2) semesters of residence in the law school.

(b) At the time of admission to the organization, the student must have a cumulative QPI of at least 85% during a school year without any failing grade in his entire stay in the law school. Additionally, the student must have taken, enrolled and finished the full load, in terms of number of units under the applicable program, for the two preceding semesters. Students who achieve a grade of at least 85% but fail to meet the other OFA standards and guidelines, shall be included in the Dean�s List of Honor Students.

(c) Membership in the OFA continues as long as a student does not get any failing grade and continues to meet the GWA. However, to be entitled again to the tuition fee discounts, the student must the requirements imposed for scholastic discounts.

(d) An OFA member is entitled to certain special privileges like attendance in special seminars and workshops, waiver of bar review fees and OFA graduation medals.

Update: August 8, 2022 - P. Bautista