The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bengaluru emerged as a game-changer of legal education in India when it introduced a five-year Bachelor of Arts-Bachelor of Legislative Law (BA LLB) course 36 years ago.
However, with the introduction of a three-year BA (Hons) programme in 2025, the institution is expanding its academic portfolio with non-legal programmes.
While this move aims to introduce multidisciplinary education to NLSIU, it is being questioned as an overstretch of the institution's scope, and a deviation from its fundamental principle of being a pioneering legal institution, according to The Indian Express.
NLSIU has followed the five-year integrated BA LLB course designed by NR Madhava Menon, a civil servant and lawyer who is regarded as the founder of modern legal education in the country, since its inception in 1988.
The programme's multidisciplinary approach, which combines law, humanities, and social sciences, has set a standard for legal education and inspired other law schools across India.
However, as the higher education market evolves and competition from private universities grows, the NLSIU is aiming to reposition itself as a multidisciplinary university as part of its expansion ambitions.
According to The Indian Express, the Government of Karnataka has agreed to lease seven acres of land from Bangalore University's Jnanabharati campus to NLSIU for 30 years at Rs 50,000 per acre per annum.
The BA course would include a common core series of foundational courses jointly offered to all first-year students across the BA and BA LLB programmes. The programme would offer options for a major-minor among subjects like History, Sociology and Anthropology, Politics, Economics; learning a selection of Indian languages.
Students can also choose subjects for practice courses in areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), Filmmaking, Business Consulting, User Experience Research, Digital Journalism, Creative Writing, Entrepreneurship, Policy Advocacy and Analysis.
