Florida A&M College of Law Wins Full Accreditation

The College of Law at historically black Florida A&M University has received full accreditation from the American Bar Association’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. The law school now becomes the 189th fully accredited law school in the nation.

The FAMU College of Law originally operated as a racially segregated institution. It admitted its first students in 1951. In 1966 the Florida legislature voted to close the institution after the state was ordered to admit blacks to predominantly white law schools in the state. From 1954 to 1968, only 57 students earned a law degree at FAMU. The College of Law was reestablished in 2000 and enrolled its first students in 2002. It received provisional accreditation from the ABA in 2004.

The latest data shows that 265 black students are enrolled at the FAMU College of Law. African Americans make up 46.5 percent of all enrollments.

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