Vermont Law and Graduate School is extending its footprint from its base in South Royalton to a new satellite location in downtown Burlington.

The space, a suite in an office building on College Street, will serve as a meeting place and classroom for online law students across the nation, said Rod Smolla, the school’s president. Students are expected to come to the center three times during the three and a half years they are pursuing their law degree, he said.

Officials celebrated the new campus at a ribbon-cutting on Thursday. 

During these three visits, about a week long each, the school plans to house students in Burlington hotels, Smolla said. The cost of the visits will be included in the students’ tuition, he said.

“We saw that there was a real need for this,” Dean Beth McCormack said. “There is an opportunity now for students all over the country and for students who couldn’t relocate to Vermont to get an education from Vermont Law and Graduate School.” 

The new site includes an admission office and classes through the school’s Center for Justice Reform and the National Center on Restorative Justice. The school plans to use the Center for Justice Reform Clinic to provide people in Burlington and beyond with immigration assistance and justice reform. 

The expansion comes one year after the school rebranded in June 2022, in which they introduced three new master’s degree programs and unveiled their current name and logo. The Burlington location was always discussed as part of the changes, Smolla said.

The expansion is funded by a $975,000 federal grant secured by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, as well as an anonymous $8 million donation the school received last year. 

Aside from philanthropy and grants, these changes are funded by the student’s tuition payments, which Smolla expects will continue to increase.

“As is true with most universities and most law schools, we gradually increase tuition largely just to keep up with the cost of living,” he said. “We had to increase our tuition this year.”

The school charges students $1,800 per credit of their Juris Doctor program, regardless of whether students are in the online program, commuters or in South Royalton.

McCormack said she hopes the school’s new proximity to undergraduate institutions such as Champlain College and the University of Vermont will encourage future collaborations.