When Chad Beights, a sergeant at the Southern Illinois University–Carbondale police department, wanted to raise his profile at work, as well as broaden his skills, he considered studying criminal justice or public administration. But the school’s Master of Legal Studies program offered him something he couldn’t refuse: flexibility.

“As an MLS student, you can take whichever classes you want within their guidelines,” says Beights, who graduated from the program in May.

Beights is interested in employment law and SIU–Carbondale let him take classes in employment discrimination, labor law and negotiations, as well as courses in criminal law and evidence, which can help him in his current job, he says. He hopes the degree will make him more marketable in the future.

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“I wanted something to fall back onto and the ability to have another career,” says Beights, who hopes the degree will position him to one day work in an administrative role in law enforcement.

Master of Legal Studies programs are an option for learning about the law without getting a J.D. and can increase job opportunities for those working in law-related careers.

These programs, and Master of Studies in Law programs, often take one year to complete if students attend full-time, and let students sit side-by-side with future attorneys while learning about the law. Many schools approved by the American Bar Association offer them.

The curriculum for both is similar to the curriculum for J.D. programs, but there’s one catch for MSL or MLS graduates: “They cannot practice law,” says Gordon Silverstein, assistant dean for graduate programs at Yale Law School, which offers an MSL.

Graduates can’t represent someone in court or do anything that requires a law license. They can, however, work in jobs that overlap with law.

Anyone considering these programs should think about the kind of job they’d like to have, as well as how much time and money they can put toward a graduate degree, experts say.

Some students who come through the program at SIU–Carbondale have a background in health care and plan to use this degree to become hospital administrators, says Michael Ruiz, assistant dean for career services and special programs at SIU–Carbondale’s law school. Others might work in state or local government, or law enforcement, he says.

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The program at Yale targets a very select group.

“It’s really meant as a means for academics in other fields who want to learn about the law. Sometimes it’s used by people who want to kind of make a transition,” says Silverstein.

A professor of history who wants a job as a law professor might fall into this category, he says.

The program is also open to reporters. “It was actually designed for journalists who covered the courts to learn more technical aspects of the law,” Silverstein says.

Many MLS and MSL also let students focus on a specific area of law. At the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, for example, there are more than 20 concentrations that students can choose from, such as education law, family law and health law.

“It helps to be focused because you only have 30 credits which is roughly 10 courses,” says Alan Meisel, a professor of law at the school and director of its MSL program.

Many of these programs are small, with just a few people applying and maybe a handful actually enrolling. Once they graduate, students can go into a range of jobs that can include drafting policies, working as patent agents or working for government agencies that deal with legal issues, experts say.

[Consider jobs that favor employees who have legal backgrounds but not J.D.s.]

One goal that they shouldn’t have in mind is using the degree as a segue into law school, experts say.

“The credits do not transfer,” says Meisel. Students who complete an MSL at University of Pittsburgh, for example, and want to attend law school cannot use those credits for a J.D. At Yale, anyone who completes the MSL can’t even apply to the J.D. program at Yale, says Silverstein.

Meisel knows of a few students who got the degree hoping it would make them more attractive to J.D. programs. It worked, but they had to pay a price.

“I think it’s an extremely expensive and time-consuming way to prepare for law school,” he says.

At schools that offer a part-time MLS or MSL program, students can take just a few classes to see how much they like law classes.

“If the student’s unsure, I won’t let them take more than one or two courses,” says Ruiz.

Prospective law students who can’t decide between a J.D. or a master’s degree can work as a paralegal to get an idea of what lawyers do and if that’s a career they’d also like, says Meisel. They can also sit in on law classes and talk to students, he says.

Ruiz encourages prospective students to talk to different people and see if the job they want can be done with an MLS.

“It comes down to the career goals of the applicants,” he says. “What do they see themselves doing?”

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Sharpen Law Skills With a Master of Legal Studies originally appeared on usnews.com