The DePaul University/University College Dublin ("UCD") Cooperative Program was established in 1991. The programs consists of an annual exchange of students and faculty from each law school. Each year, UCD sends seven third-year law students to DePaul College of Law for the entire academic year (August - May), and DePaul College of Law sends seven second-year law students to UCD for the spring semester. In addition, DePaul College of Law and UCD exchange faculty each year for approximately two weeks per academic year. The cooperative program received full American Bar Association approval in June 1993.
University College Dublin is the largest and most prestigious university in Ireland and one of the major European universities. The faculty of law at UCD is the largest in Ireland with more than 40 full-time members and 900 students. All of the major "actors" on the legal scene in Ireland -- from justices of the Supreme Court down -- are graduates of UCD.
The cooperative program is an important part of the educational program at DePaul College of Law. It enables DePaul law students to study law (particularly European Community Law) in a major European university. This experience enriches the law student with courses and perspectives that they would not otherwise acquire in the United States and enables them to interact with faculty and students who come not only from Ireland but from throughout Europe.