African-American Students at the Six Law Schools at Historically Black Universities

In the 2004-05 academic year there were 9,488 black students attending the 188 U.S. law schools accredited by the American Bar Association. Blacks now make up 6.4 percent of all law school enrollments, a decrease from 6.8 percent of the total enrollments two years ago.

While African-American students are finding it increasingly difficult to gain admission to the nation’s highest-ranked law schools, the six law schools at historically black universities offer the only educational alternative for many aspiring black lawyers. The six law schools are at Howard University, North Carolina Central University, Southern University, Texas Southern University, the University of the District of Columbia, and Florida A&M University.

Today these six law schools enroll nearly 2,700 students of all races. The black percentage of total enrollments at these schools range from a high of 79.8 percent at Howard University to a low of 30.6 percent at the University of the District of Columbia. In fact, blacks are a majority of all students at only two of the six law schools on HBCU campuses.

Nevertheless, all six schools are providing legal education to large numbers of black students. It is important to note too that all six law schools are highly selective. All six accept less than one third of all students who apply for admission.

Copyright © 2006. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.