Thurgood Marshall School of Law

History

Its history can be traced back to a 1946 lawsuit implicating protections for racial minorities under the U.S. Constitution, Sweatt v. Painter, brought by Heman M. Sweatt, and tried by Thurgood Marshall. The Texas Constitution mandated separate but equal facilities for whites and blacks. Mr. Sweatt was refused admission to the University of Texas School of Law because he was black. In order to pre-empt the possibility of Mr. Sweatt obtaining a successful court order, the legislature passed Texas State Senate Bill 140, which established a university to offer courses of higher learning in law, pharmacy, dentistry, journalism, education, arts and sciences, literature, medicine, and other professional courses. It opened in 1946 as the "Texas State University for Negroes," and later changed its name in Texas Southern University in 1951.

Thurgood Marshall School of Law has been consistently ranked among the best in the nation for achieving diversification in its student body. TMSL has produced over 1,000 Hispanic lawyers and is responsible for 17% of African-American lawyers nationwide. At least 40% of licensed Texas African-American lawyers are TMSL alumni.

On the February 2015 Texas Bar Exam, TMSL first time bar exam takers passage rate was 64% which exceeded the national average and nearby University of Houston Law Center rate.

As of fall 2016, TMSL offers a Master of Laws in Immigration and Naturalization Law. The program is the first Masters of Law program in the nation to focus on immigration law.

Student demographics and statistics

Gender: 43% Male, 57% Female.

Age: average 26. 60% younger than 30. 32% over 30.

Race: 54% African-American, 7% Asian-American, 17% Caucasian, 21% Hispanic, 1% Foreign Nationals.

Average LSAT score: 147 (120 LSAT min.).

Average GPA: 3.00.

The overall bar passage rate for TMSL for the past five years is 77.43%.

All demographics and statistics are based on 2011 figures.

Admissions

The Class of 2019 had 1,883 applications and only 35% (660) were offered admissions into the school. 238 students enrolled for the fall semester .

TMSL Library

The TMSL Library housed within the law school building has over 350,000 volumes and volume equivalents. In 2010, the National Jurist ranked the TMSL Library 31st out of 198 law libraries in the nation for resources, service, and space. TMSL also had the distinction of being the only Houston law school ranked, the only historically black law school ranked, and one of only two Texas law schools ranked.

TMSL Legal Clinics

Publications

Employment

According to Thurgood Marshall's official 2013 ABA-required disclosures, only 34% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. Thurgood Marshall's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 31.4%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2013 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.

Costs

The total estimated cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Thurgood Marshall for the 2013-2014 academic year is $38,235.50 for residents and $43,185.50 for nonresidents. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $150,715 for residents and $171,397 for nonresidents.

Notable alumni

The Thurgood Marshall School of Law alumni network consists of thousands of lawyers. Some notable graduates includes the following:

Notable faculty