Political Science
The most direct path, adding accounting and formal logic to a government and law foundation.
Pre-Law Minor
Thinking about law school? Or about a field where the law is always in the room, like business, journalism, health care, or public service? The Pre-Law minor builds the skills the legal profession runs on: structured reasoning, close reading, financial literacy, and the ability to stand up and make an argument. It ends with an internship in a working legal setting, so you learn what the profession is actually like before you commit to it.
Why Study Pre-Law
Law school does not require a particular major, which is exactly why a structured minor helps. This one is deliberately built out of the four things the profession keeps testing for. Logic gives you formal and informal reasoning, which is the direct analog of what the LSAT measures. Accounting gives you financial literacy, which matters more in practice than most students expect. Speak for Success trains oral argument. Law and the Courts gives you a working understanding of how the American judicial system is structured and how it behaves. Then you go work in a law office and find out what the day actually looks like.
Pairs Well With
A minor's value is in how it complements your major. Every major is welcome in the pre-law program, and it pairs especially naturally with:
Criminology
Connect the study of crime and justice systems to legal practice and procedure.
English and History
Two of the strongest law school feeder disciplines, built on exactly the close reading and argument construction the profession rewards.
Business Administration and Accounting
Position yourself for corporate, tax, and regulatory practice, where the financial fluency is the differentiator.
Philosophy
Pair the ethics and reasoning coursework with formal legal study.
Program Details
The Pre-Law minor is 21 credit hours: four required courses, one upper-level course you choose from outside your major, and at least one hour of internship credit in a legal setting.
Required Courses
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| ACC 2111 | Foundations of Financial Accounting |
| COM 1500 | Speak for Success |
| PHI 2208 | Logic |
| POS 2500 | Law and the Courts |
Upper-Level Course, Choose One
One four-hour course at the 3000 or 4000 level, taken outside your major field of study, with a prefix from the following:
ARH · COM · CRM · ENG · HIS · PHI · POS · REL
Legal Internship
At least one hour of internship credit with a law firm approved by the pre-law advisor.
- Your upper-level course must sit outside your major. This is the constraint students miss most often. If you major in Political Science, the POS prefix is off the table for this requirement. Choose the slot early with your advisor, because it shapes which courses you take in your junior and senior years.
- The internship needs advisor approval. The firm or office has to be approved by the pre-law advisor before the credit counts. Start that conversation well ahead of the semester you want to intern.
- One credit hour is the floor, not the target. The catalog sets one hour as the minimum. The pre-law program is built to scale that up, first to a single credit hour placement and then to a guided four-hour summer internship as your interests sharpen.
- Earn a 2.0 in the minor. All minors at Florida Southern must be completed with a 2.0 grade point average.
- Complete half the minor here. At least 50 percent of the minor requirements must be completed at Florida Southern College. AICE, AP, CLEP, and IB credits are recorded as transfer credits.
Beyond The Classroom
The minor is the academic half. The pre-law program around it is what most students actually come for.
Internships in working legal settings. Students intern with local law firms, the public defender's office, and the state attorney's office, starting with a single credit hour and moving into a guided four-hour summer internship as interests focus.
LSAT preparation. Practice tests are available from the first year onward, with a formal LSAT exam preparation course in the junior or senior year.
Mentorship by practicing attorneys. Mentorship by local practitioners is an integral part of the program.
Law Week. A student-organized event sponsored by the Department of Political Science and run by pre-law and political science interns, bringing together current student and alumni panels, lawyers panels, other-paths-in-law panels, law school admissions counselors, and networking. Formally adopted in 2019 and open to students from Florida Southern and neighboring institutions.
Honor societies and organizations. Florida Southern sponsors chapters of Phi Alpha Delta and Pi Sigma Alpha.
Where It Can Lead
The minor is built for students on a trajectory toward graduate study in law, legal issues, public administration, and management. It also does real work for students who never sit the LSAT. Structured reasoning, financial literacy, and the ability to build and deliver an argument travel into business, journalism, public policy, compliance, health care administration, and advocacy. The internship requirement means you leave knowing whether the profession fits, which is worth as much as any credential.
How To Declare This Minor
Skip to next section- 1
Meet with the pre-law advisor to review the minor, plan your upper-level course, and start the internship conversation.
- 2
It has to come from outside your major, at the 3000 or 4000 level, from the approved prefix list. Sorting this in your sophomore year avoids a senior-year scramble.
- 3
The firm or office must be approved by the pre-law advisor before the credit counts toward the minor.
- 4
It will appear on your official transcript.
Get in Touch
Questions about the Pre-Law minor? Connect with the program director.
R. Bruce Anderson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Political Science, Dr. Sarah D. and L. Kirk McKay Jr. Chair in American History, Government, and Civics
- 863.680.4311
- 785.727.3309
- 785.727.3309
- 863.616.6407
- randerson2@flsouthern.edu
- Ordway - 128
Take the Next Step
This is a big decision, and we’re here to help you make the choice that’s right for the future you’re imagining. Choose a next step to explore the possibilities at FSC!