| Benjamin L. Crump College of Law | |
| Established: | 1984 |
| Parent Endowment: | $23.4 Million |
| Head: | John Makdisi (Interim)[1] |
| Students: | 758 |
| Faculty: | 34 full-time; 48 part-time adjunct (Spring 2023)[2] |
| Ranking: | 172nd (tie) (2024)[3] |
| Bar Pass Rate: | 72% (Florida bar exam, February 2024 first-time takers)[4] [5] |
| Homepage: | St. Thomas homepage |
Benjamin L. Crump College of Law is one of the graduate schools of St. Thomas University located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The College of Law was founded in 1984. According to its 2022 ABA-required disclosures, 68.2% of the Class of 2022 obtained full-time, bar-passage-required employment after graduation.[6] The college was renamed after civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump in 2023.[7] The law school includes the Benjamin L. Crump Center for Social Justice, which focuses on implicit bias training and offers scholarships to students.[8]
St. Thomas University officially renamed its law school the Benjamin L. Crump College of Law on February 8, 2023 with Mr. Crump and actor Will Smith in attendance. [9]
The U.S. News & World Report reports that the law school is the sixth most ethically and racially diverse ABA-accredited law school.[10] St. Thomas is also first in the nation in conferring J.D. degrees upon Hispanic students, according to Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine (December 2006 Issue) and it was ranked as number one for Hispanic students by Hispanic Outlook magazine once again in its December 2015 edition. The former dean, Alfredo Garcia, was the first Cuban-born dean of a U.S. law school. The Princeton Review ranks St. Thomas # 3 for the Best Environment for Minority Students (2009 edition). The diverse faculty is ranked # 9 in the country according to the Princeton Review. Current Dean is Interim Dean John Makdisi (2023).
Joint Degrees: The faculties of the law school and the graduate school offer five joint degree programs: the J.D./M.S. in Sports Administration, the J.D./M.B.A. in Sports Administration, the J.D./M.S. in Marriage and Family Counseling, J.D./M.B.A. in International Business, and the J.D./M.B.A. in Accounting. The school has two L.L.M graduate programs, one in cybersecurity and one in intercultural human rights.
65.6% of the Class of 2022 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation, excluding solo practitioners.[11] St. Thomas' Law School Transparency under-employment score is 22.1%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2022 underemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.[12]
The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $233,742.[13] Yearly tuiton and fees for J.D. students is $44,830 (2021-2022).[14]
The law school has three publications: