Florida State Law School ranked sixth best in nation for Hispanics

Hispanic Business magazine has named Florida State University College of Law the sixth best law school in the nation for Hispanics in its September 2010 issue. This is the seventh year in a row that the College of Law has been named one the top 10 law schools for Hispanic students.

The magazine based its ranking on the following criteria: the percentage of Hispanic students enrolled, the percentage of full-time Hispanic faculty members, progressive programs aimed at increasing enrollment of Hispanic students, the retention rate for Hispanic students and school reputation as reflected in U.S. News & World Report.

“I understand the value of having a diverse student body,” said Manuel Utset, the law school’s Charles W. Ehrhardt Professor and a Cuban-American raised in Miami. “What is special about the College of Law is that everyone else, from the administration on down, embraces this commitment to diversity, not just in words but actions, such as helping recruit Hispanic students and supporting them during their time in Tallahassee.”

Hispanics made up 7 percent of the law school’s student enrollment and received 21 of the 264 law degrees (8 percent) awarded to the Class of 2009. Fourteen percent of the full-time faculty is Hispanic.

The Hispanic Business ranking comes on the heels of Florida State’s law faculty being rated by Leiter’s Law School Rankings (2010) as the nation’s 23rd best in terms of per capita scholarly impact.