Texas Southern University- Thurgood Marshall School of Law

Texas Southern is the most diverse law school in the country, with minorities making up more than 80 percent of enrollment. The Houston school was founded as a historically black college, but a large percent of students are Hispanic. In fact, preLaw ranked it the No. 4 law school for African Americans and the No. 6 law school in the nation for Hispanics. 

“We provide the platform for diversifying the power elite in Texas and around the country,” said professor Dannye Holley, who was previously the dean of the law school. 

Many students attend the school to be in an environment with students from different backgrounds, and because the faculty is committed to scholarship that “empowers and engages.”

Texas Southern offers the lowest tuition in the state, at only $20,418 a year. Likewise, its students graduate with the lowest debt of all Texas schools.

“Many of our students are first-time professionals in their family, so they don’t have the family resources that are available to students at other schools,” Holley said. 

Most graduates work in small firms, government or start their own practices. The school excels in criminal law and offers the only LL.M. in immigration law in the nation, making it one of the best for that practice area.