Project Excellence

Project Excellence is a program that enables Barrett students to take real law courses taught by law faculty while still undergraduates. Participants will enroll in the HON 494 section associated with a given law class, receiving upper-division Honors elective credit toward their undergraduate degree.

• Take classes at one of the nation’s preeminent law schools, consistently ranked among the top 20 public law schools in the US
• Access the Ross Blakely Law Library, a quiet study space with extensive legal research materials and experienced law librarians on staff
• Network with current law students in class and at designated law school events
• Join a cohort of motivated Barrett students gaining an early exposure to legal education within a supportive framework, helping with readiness for law school

Project Excellence classes are offered every fall and spring semester. Each term, a selection of law courses will be available to Barrett students through this program, typically upper-level electives normally taken by 2L and 3L JD students. Topics vary each semester, but recent offerings have included subjects related to technology and intellectual property, healthcare and medicine, business and real estate, sports law, employment law, family law, criminal law, constitutional law, and more.

Barrett students typically join Project Excellence during their junior or senior year, although occasionally students participate in their sophomore year.

To be eligible, Barrett students must be in good academic standing with a minimum cumulative ASU GPA of 3.25. They must also meet the following honors credit requirements prior to participating in the program:

• Lower Division students (36 required honors credits) must have completed The Human Event sequence and 12 additional honors credits for a total of at least 18 honors credits
• Upper Division or Online students (21 required honors credits) must have completed The History of Ideas and 3 additional honors credits for a total of at least 6 honors credits

Eligible students may be asked to complete a brief intake form to facilitate matching with available law courses in a way that supports both student success and appropriate course alignment with student interests.

If you are interested in taking law classes through Project Excellence, your first step is to email [email protected] with your name and 10-digit ASU ID number. The Project Excellence team will verify your basic eligibility for the program and add you to the interest list to receive further information when the Project Excellence course offerings are released for the upcoming semester.

The law school follows a different academic calendar and scheduling timeline than undergraduate programs at ASU. The Project Excellence course list is usually released in late November or early December for spring semester courses and late April or early May for fall semester courses. After the Project Excellence courses are announced for the upcoming semester, you will be able to find detailed course descriptions on Class Search by clicking the courses button on this page.

Classes take place on the Downtown Phoenix campus in the main building of ASU Law: The Beus Center for Law and Society (111 E Taylor Street). Students commuting from other ASU campuses are encouraged to use the campus shuttles.

Each law course available through Project Excellence is primarily composed of law students in their 2L and 3L years of the JD program at ASU Law. Typically, 2 to 5 seats are reserved for Barrett students, depending on the overall size of the course.

During your first semester in the program you may enroll in one Project Excellence class. During subsequent semesters of participation, you may take up to two courses depending on availability. There is no overall limit to the number of semesters you may participate in Project Excellence while you are at Barrett.

Barrett students taking law classes through Project Excellence are graded separately from law students and are not subject to the law school grading distribution or curve. You must enroll in HON 494 for a letter grade, unless the law class is only available pass/fail (which is rare). Project Excellence classes may not be audited.

Yes. Most students earn A grades.

If you would like to review feedback from past participants, you can view survey data here.  

Yes. A required Project Excellence orientation session is held by the law school before the beginning of the semester. By joining the Project Excellence cohort, you are agreeing to attend this orientation session.

The orientation is usually held virtually before the semester begins. Please be aware that your Project Excellence law class may begin several days earlier than your undergraduate courses due to the Law School’s different academic calendar. The date and time of the orientation session, as well as details about the law school semester, will be communicated to you in advance.

If you have more questions about Project Excellence, please email [email protected] 

"I'm so grateful I took those Project Excellence classes. While everyone was worrying about taking their first law school final, I at least knew what to expect."

— Brigitte N., Barrett Class of 2017, Berkeley Law Class of 2020

For questions about the student experience, contact Brigitte Nicoletti at [email protected]