# Benjamin L. Crump College of Law

Benjamin L. Crump College of Law is the law school of St. Thomas University located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The College of Law was founded in 1984. According to its 2024 ABA-required disclosures, 62.9% of the Class of 2023 obtained full-time, bar-passage-required employment (i.e. as attorneys) after graduation. The college was renamed after civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump in 2023. The law school includes the Benjamin L. Crump Center for Social Justice, which focuses on implicit bias training and offers scholarships to students.

## Diversity

In 2023, U.S. News & World Report reported that the law school was the sixth most ethnically and racially diverse ABA-accredited law school. The former dean, Alfredo Garcia, was the first Cuban-born dean of a U.S. law school. The current dean is Interim Dean John Makdisi.

## Programs

The faculties of the law school and the university's graduate school offer five joint degree programs: the J.D./M.S. in Sports Administration, the J.D./M.B.A. in Sports Administration, the J.D./M.S. in Marriage and Family Counseling, J.D./M.B.A. in International Business, and the J.D./M.B.A. in Accounting. The school has two L.L.M graduate programs, one in cybersecurity and one in intercultural human rights.

## Admissions

For the class entering in 2024, the law school accepted 913 out of 1505 applicants, a 60.66% acceptance rate, with 390 of those accepted enrolling, a 42.72% yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who enrolled). The median LSAT score was 152 and the median undergraduate GPA was 3.30. Two students were not included in the GPA calculation. Its 25th/75th percentile LSAT scores and GPAs were 155/149 and 3.58/2.98.

## Ranking

In 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked the law school tied for No. 172 out of 196 ABA accredited law schools (bottom 12% at most).

## Employment

62.9% of the Class of 2023 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment (i.e. as attorneys) nine months after graduation, excluding solo practitioners. St. Thomas' Law School Transparency under-employment score is 30.3%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2023 unemployed, underemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation. Most graduates employed as attorneys were employed in small regional firms.

## Bar examination passage

The bar examination passage rate for the law school’s first-time examination takers was 72% for the Florida bar exam in February 2024and 58.42% for all jurisdictions for 2023. The Ultimate Bar Pass Rate, which the ABA defines as the passage rate for graduates who sat for bar examinations within two years of graduating, was 75.68% for the class of 2021.

## Costs

The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $233,742. Yearly tuition and fees for J.D. students is $44,830 (2021-2022).

## Publications

The law school has three publications:
* St. Thomas Law Review
* Journal of Complex Litigation
* Intercultural Human Rights Law Review

## Notable alumni

* Jose Baez (JD, 1997) - defense attorney in the Casey Anthony trial
* Gaston Cantens (JD, 1992) - vice president of Florida Crystals sugar company and former member of the Florida House of Representatives (1998-2004)
* Ana Navarro (JD, 1997) - Nicaraguan-American Republican political commentator and co–host of The View
* Juan-Carlos Planas (JD, 1998) - former member of the Florida House of Representatives (2002-2010)
* Isaac Wright Jr. (JD, 2007) - defense attorney who secured his own release and exoneration from the conviction as a drug lord
* Cord Byrd (JD, 1997) - Republican secretary of state of Florida
* Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (JD, 2010) – U.S. representative for Florida's 20th congressional district who has been referred to the U.S. House Committee on Ethics after finding "substantial reason" to believe that she had violated campaign finance rules
* Ricky K. Patel (JD, 2009) - American lawyer and philanthropist serving as Of Counsel with Akerman LLP in Miami