There is one sure fire bargain in law school education in Texas (and in fact anywhere). It is Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas.
The University has had its problems, and that might have impacted the image of the law school, but it should not have done so.
Its history can be traced back to a 1946 lawsuit brought by Heman M. Sweatt. 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 possible success by Mr. Sweatt, 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.
From this Thurgood Marshall School of Law was born.
Its tuition is presently $10,578 for in state students and only $14,318 for out of state students, which is the lowest in Texas, and has to be among the lowest in the nation.
Yet, since it is a state supported University and law school, the law school has relatively new and very nice facilities. I have attended CLE events there.
Thurgood Marshall School of Law has been ranked number one in achieving diversification in its student body.
Since a scathing ABA report in 2002, Thurgood Marshall has drastically increased bar passage rates and achieved a 77% bar passage the last time. It has also radically reduced the drop out rate of law students.
Say what you want about the school, but all races are welcomed and it the most racially diverse law school in the country.
Further, Houston is one of the cheapest places to live of all major metropolitan areas in the country. You have to factor the cost of living into the cost of law school. For example, according to PayScale.Com it costs 58% to live in Houston of what it does to live in New York City. It costs only 80% of what it does in Chicago. It even costs 4% less than living in Dallas, Texas.
In my opinion, Thurgood Marshall is one of the most under rated law schools in the country.
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