The University of Baltimore School of Law has launched a new program aimed at increasing the number of students from Maryland’s historically Black colleges and universities who are prepared for the law school admissions process. According to the University of Baltimore, none of the four state-operated HBCUs in Maryland offer their students prep-courses for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT).
The University of Baltimore’s Fannie Angelos Program for Academic Program has two main components. The Baltimore Scholars Programs invites eight undergraduate students to the law school’s campus for a two-week “boot camp” in January. The HBCU students are given a taste of what it is like to be enrolled in law school. They meet with faculty, attorneys, and judges and visit law firms.
The program also offers a 16-week LSAT preparation course to 80 students on the HBCU campuses during the spring semester.
Students who are Baltimore Scholars, score at least 152 on the LSAT, and have a college grade point average of 3.5 or better receive a full scholarship to the University of Baltimore law school.
Michael Meyerson, a professor at the law school, says that “this is not a diversity program. It is a talent search. If you find talent and level the playing field, diversity inevitably happens. The more that people in the predominately White legal structure believe there is quality in HBCUs the better.”
