Double the Employability
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) launched the BBA-JD double degree program for students seeking cross-disciplinary knowledge with parallel concentration on legal and business studies. Find out more from a news report published in The Standard.
In Hong Kong, business degrees are hugely popular, and they are known to help students climb up the corporate ladder in multiple industries and areas of employment.
As a result of the press conference for the launch of Bachelor of Business Administration (Integrated BBA Programme) and Juris Doctor (“BBA-JD”) Double Degree Programme, a news report was published in The Standard on 25 October 2016.
Jointly offered by the CUHK Business School and CUHK Faculty of Law, the new BBA-JD double degree programme allows students to complete the two degrees in five years at a tuition fee that is lower than usual.
CUHK’s data shows that gaining entry to the existing JD programme is highly competitive, with the application success rate only at about 20 percent. About 25 percent of JD applicants are business students.
Dr. Andy Wong, Assistant Dean (Undergraduate Studies) and Co-director of Integrated BBA Programme at CUHK Business School, said integration is the core of the double-degree programme. “Students follow the BBA curriculum in their first three years of studies, followed by JD-focused courses in the next two years,” he stated.
“Students get to learn the integration of knowledge in the third or fourth years through real-life case studies. They are encouraged to analyse different situations and search for solutions with a business and legal mind-set, which is what professionals are doing today,” Dr. Wong added.
Tina Wong, a CUHK alumna and trainee solicitor at multinational legal firm Jones Day, who obtained her BBA and JD degrees separately from CUHK, said demand is rising for talent with interdisciplinary knowledge and skills amid a complicated business environment. “Business is not just about numbers, but also about how one’s interest can be protected to the largest extent by agreeing on good legal terms,” Wong said.
“During our undergraduate studies in business, we learned how to market products to boost sales and how to use financial models to provide insights into business structures, as well as evaluate key performance drivers. But we often neglected various underlying legal issues, such as how to avoid potential claims from other parties and what to do to prevent others from stealing ideas. This is where law comes in, which helps provide a more complete picture of how to run a business and how to uphold a company’s best interests, whether commercial or legal without affecting business progress,” Wong added… Read More (PDF)
Source: The Standard
Date published: 25 October, 2016
