Florida law schools continue to dominate Hispanic Business magazine’s annual ranking of the best law schools for diversity practices, with Florida International University College of Law taking the top spot.
The website ranks the top ten law schools for Hispanics, assessing number of Hispanic students and graduates and number of Hispanic faculty members.
Other Florida law schools include Florida State University College of Law at No. 2, University of Miami School of Law at No. 3, and Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center at No. 5.
Three California schools made the list: University of Southern California Gould School of Law at No. 7, University of San Francisco School of Law at No. 8, and University of California, Los Angeles School of Law at No. 9.
Other schools include American University Washington College of Law at No. 4, University of Texas School of Law at No. 6, and University of New Mexico School of Law at No. 10.
“You are surrounded by Hispanic culture everywhere you look in New Mexico, and Hispanic students represent a large percentage of our student body,” said Sergio Pareja, a law professor at University of New Mexico. “We offer a variety of programs to encourage and support our diverse student body. The UNM Law School is deeply committed to diversity as a core value that enriches the classroom experience and strengthens our community.”
The ranking by Hispanic Business looked at all postgraduate programs, not just law. University of New Mexico placed No. 4 in business, No. 6 in engineering and No. 10 in medicine. Across all disciplines, the university had a 31.6 percent Hispanic enrollment.
The University of New Mexico has a strong relationship with the Mexican American Student Association (MASLA) which offers no-cost practice LSAT examinations each fall across the state and a New Mexico High School Law and Advocacy workshop.
The University of New Mexico School of Law’s student body is comprised of 34 percent Hispanic enrollment and 11.4 percent Hispanic faculty. The University has 35 full time faculty members, 4 of whom are Hispanic.
At Florida International, more than 46 percent of students and 22.7 percent of professors are Hispanic. The school had been No. 2 in 2013.
