1303 San Jacinto Street
Houston, TX 77002-7006
Phone: 713.659.8040; Fax: 713.646.2906
E-mail: admissions@stcl.edu; Website: www.stcl.edu
South Texas College of Law, situated at the very core of Houston's vibrant downtown legal and financial centers, is a private, nonprofit, independent law school founded in 1923. South Texas is the oldest law school in Houston and one of the largest in the nation. Accredited by the American Bar Association and also a member of the AALS, South Texas offers full- and part-time programs leading to the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree.
South Texas enrolls full-time (day) and part-time (evening) students. Full- and part-time students are admitted to South Texas in the fall semester, while only full-time students are admitted in the spring. Admission application deadlines are February 15 for fall consideration and October 1 for spring. Early application is encouraged. All applicants must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university of approved standing. In addition, applicants must register with LSAC's Credential Assembly Service and take the LSAT no later than the February administration for Fall consideration and no later than the October administration for spring.
Admission is based primarily on proven academic and intellectual ability, measured largely by the LSAT and the quality of undergraduate education. Capacity for leadership, dedication to community or public service, hardships overcome, excellence in a particular field, motivation, graduate study, work experience, career achievement, extracurricular activities, and character are also factors taken into consideration.
Students are chosen not only for their potential for academic success, but also for their ability to enhance the overall diversity of the class. South Texas makes every effort to achieve broad diversity in terms of background, geography, undergraduate institutions represented, ethnic origin, and race.
The curriculum at South Texas combines traditional classroom instruction with a broad range of innovative simulated and clinical courses. The college offers a class scheduling system whereby students may select convenient class times rather than have to choose between day and evening divisions. To accommodate part-time working students, a complete curriculum of classes is scheduled after 5:30 pm, with a few classes also scheduled on Saturdays.
For students interested in the increased globalization of law, South Texas offers a variety of study-abroad programs throughout the year. Two ABA-approved cooperative exchange programs allow students to study for a semester in the Netherlands or Denmark. Summer programs are offered in Malta, Turkey, Ireland, England, Chile, and the Czech Republic.
Through a special cooperative program, students in the JD program at South Texas College of Law are eligible to apply for admission to the MBA program at Mays Business School, Texas A&M University. Upon acceptance into the MBA program, students are granted a leave of absence after their second year of law studies to attain their MBA and then return to South Texas to complete their JD degree.
Development of strong legal and advocacy skills is important at South Texas, as evidenced by its four Centers of Excellence and its skills and clinical programs.
Since 1980, the Advocacy Program has outperformed all other law school teams in the nation by winning an array of state, regional, and national championship victories. The Frank Evans Center for Conflict Resolution allows students to learn from and interact with practicing attorneys who specialize in mediation and arbitration. The Corporate Compliance Center involves students who are interested in working as in-house counsel, corporate counsel, outside counsel, and business lawyers. The center explores issues such as how companies promote policies and procedures that ensure legal and ethical behavior and how companies detect and deter wrongdoing. The Transactional Practice Center is designed to teach students the fundamental elements of completing a business transaction such as purchasing or developing real estate, buying or selling a corporation, or creating a partnership.
South Texas offers an array of on-site clinics in which students hone their legal skills and develop their professional identities while working for real clients on actual cases under the direct supervision of faculty and staff. The wide range of cases addressed in these direct representation clinics includes refugee and asylum law, domestic violence, claims of actual innocence and wrongful conviction, family law, estate planning, guardianship, and probate. Clinical students appear before administrative agencies, as well as state and federal trial and appellate courts.
Second- and third-year South Texas students take full advantage of the law school's downtown Houston location and enroll in academic internships that place them in the real world of lawyering, including state and federal trial and appellate court chambers, prosecutors' and defenders' offices, public interest legal service providers, and state and federal government agencies. International internship opportunities include work with defense and victims' counsel in The Hague international tribunals and with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees in Malta.
Both the academic internships and direct representation clinics complement the Pro Bono Honors Program, a cocurricular project that encourages, recognizes, and supports student volunteer legal service during their final two years of law school study.
Academic Assistance and Counseling. Students are encouraged to participate in the varied programs and services offered, which are designed to help them reach their full academic potential.
The Langdell Scholar Program, conducted by course-proficient upper level students, continues to benefit students in mastering the framework of legal analysis, while garnering a proficiency in effective outlining, study skills, and exam-taking techniques. Students attend these valuable sessions voluntarily or are selected into the program based on their LSAT performance and undergraduate GPA.
Students at South Texas have the opportunity to become members of approximately 40 active student organizations representing a wide range of interests.
South Texas College of Law students participate in journals on the basis of outstanding scholarship and writing ability. Our students edit and publish a variety of scholarly publications, including the South Texas Law Review, Currents: International Trade Law Journal, and the Corporate Counsel Review; and coedit the Construction Law Journal and Texas Business Journal in conjunction with each journal's respective state bar section.
South Texas ensures that students have access to, and are trained with, state-of-the-art tools now used in the legal profession. The T. Gerald Treece Courtroom houses a nine-seat judges' bench and boasts the very latest courtroom technology available to trial attorneys. The courtroom is heavily used by the school's nationally recognized advocacy program for practice and competitions. It is also available to the members of Houston's legal community, including the judiciary.
The Fred Parks Law Library supports a diverse legal collection, with over a half million volumes and over 61,000 titles, for the scholarly research and academic needs of the student body, faculty, and legal community. The library also houses a Special Collections Department showcased in The Jesse Jones Reading Room where an impressive catalog of seminal works in legal history, English common law, Spanish and Mexican law, and Texas legal history are available by appointment. The library encompasses more than 72,000 square feet. Each of the 895 seats in the six-story facility is wired for data and power and is Internet accessible through wireless connectivity. The building is crowned with a conference center and rooftop terrace, which is a perfect place for students to congregate and to hold special campus events.
South Texas offers an extensive financial aid program that includes scholarships; grants; federal, state, and private loans; and the opportunity to earn funds through the Federal Work-Study Program. Our financial aid program measures the ability of students to pay tuition, fees, and living expenses, then awards aid (federal, state, and institutional) to all who apply and qualify for assistance. Incoming students are automatically considered for merit scholarships based on their undergraduate grade point average and LSAT score. Continuing students are eligible for both merit- and need-based scholarships. For additional information, please contact the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid for eligibility and documentation requirements at 713.646.1820. You may also browse the financial aid webpage at www.stcl.edu/fao/.
In light of today's competitive job market, the Career Resources Center (CRC) continues to provide South Texas students and graduates with a full range of services to assist in their employment search, while at the same time being responsive to the changes in hiring trends and patterns. The office serves as a counseling and resource center for students seeking employment on either a full- or part-time basis and assists graduates pursuing permanent employment. In addition to on-campus recruiting, the CRC also offers an array of professional development programs and career panels designed to assist students in their job-search preparation and networking. The objective of the CRC staff is to aid students in exploring career options, while helping them build valuable job-search skills utilizing their strengths and abilities. By taking advantage of the many programs and services offered by the CRC, students are better equipped to maximize their career-planning opportunities.
This grid includes only applicants who earned 120–180 LSAT scores under standard administrations.
| GPA | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LSAT Score |
3.75+ Apps |
3.75+ Adm |
3.50– 3.74 Apps |
3.50– 3.74 Adm |
3.25– 3.49 Apps |
3.25– 3.49 Adm |
3.00– 3.24 Apps |
3.00– 3.24 Adm |
2.75– 2.99 Apps |
2.75– 2.99 Adm |
2.50– 2.74 Apps |
2.50– 2.74 Adm |
2.25– 2.49 Apps |
2.25– 2.49 Adm |
2.00– 2.24 Apps |
2.00– 2.24 Adm |
Below 2.00 Apps |
Below 2.00 Adm |
No GPA Apps |
No GPA Adm |
Total Apps |
Total Adm |
| LSAT score 170–180 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| LSAT score 165–169 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 38 |
| LSAT score 160–164 | 10 | 10 | 30 | 29 | 31 | 30 | 23 | 21 | 16 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 130 | 121 |
| LSAT score 155–159 | 36 | 35 | 58 | 58 | 87 | 85 | 83 | 78 | 74 | 65 | 29 | 21 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 393 | 350 |
| LSAT score 150–154 | 39 | 24 | 81 | 61 | 124 | 92 | 133 | 90 | 107 | 50 | 52 | 9 | 28 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 8 | 597 | 336 |
| LSAT score 145–149 | 27 | 13 | 48 | 18 | 93 | 12 | 97 | 4 | 93 | 4 | 56 | 2 | 34 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 477 | 56 |
| LSAT score 140–144 | 5 | 0 | 31 | 2 | 43 | 2 | 54 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 262 | 4 |
| LSAT score Below 140 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 120 | 0 |
| Total | 124 | 86 | 260 | 173 | 401 | 231 | 424 | 203 | 360 | 140 | 208 | 44 | 132 | 16 | 50 | 7 | 18 | 0 | 47 | 9 | 2024 | 909 |
Apps = Number of Applicants
Adm = Number Admitted
Reflects 100% of the total applicant pool; highest LSAT data reported.