After the 1930s, the LL.B. and the J.D. degrees coexisted in some American law schools. Some law schools, especially in Illinois and the Midwest, awarded both (like Marquette University, beginning in 1926), conferring J.D. degrees only to those with a bachelor's degree (as opposed to two or three years of college before law school), those who had a higher academic standard in undergraduate studies, and finished a thesis in the third year of law school. Because the J.D. degree was no more advantageous for bar admissions or for employment, the vast majority of Marquette students preferred to seek the LL.B. degree.