The Sunshine State capital’s resident law school can boast of two new additions to its already long list of honors and accolades.

On Aug. 28 Hispanic Business magazine released its 2012 list of the nation’s top law schools for Hispanic students. Of the 202 schools accredited by the American Bar Association, Miami’s Florida International University College of Law and Tallahassee’s Florida State University College of Law ranked second and third best, respectively, while the University of Miami School of Law made it to ninth place.

The No. 1 school, incidentally, is the University of Texas at Austin.

The rankings were based on Hispanic student enrollment, Hispanic faculty members, Hispanic student retention rates, degrees conferred to Hispanics, and progressive programs aimed at increasing enrollment of Hispanic students.

“We are all thrilled to be named the nation’s third best law school for Hispanic students,” said FSU Law’s Dean Don Weidner in a statement. “We pride ourselves on an environment in which everyone succeeds.”

FSU Law has also earned a spot on The National Jurist’s 2012 rankings of “best value law schools.” The magazine says its rankings are designed to identify “the law schools where graduates have the best chance of passing the Bar and getting a legal job, without taking on a ton of debt.” FSU’s law school ranked 12th on the list, and was Florida’s only school to make it to the top 20.

“We are thrilled to be ranked one of the nation’s best value law schools, especially because job placement is a major factor in this ranking,” Weidner said in a separate statement. “Launching the careers of our students is the most important thing we do.”

Tallahassee’s law school is no stranger to national recognitions. U.S. News & World Report ranks FSU one of the nation’s top 51 law schools, ranks the environmental law program eighth, and its tax law program 23rd best (tied with Duke University School of Law). Gainesville’s Fredric G. Levin College of Law ranks in the top 50.


Reach Eric Giunta at egiunta@sunshinestatenews.com or at {850) 727-0859.