Mitchell Hamline School of Law has been recognized for our enduring commitment to providing access and opportunity in a new Justice & Opportunity Honor Roll in the winter edition of The National Jurist’s preLaw magazine.
“At Mitchell Hamline, modality is not about convenience alone. It is a structural response to who law school has historically excluded—and a deliberate effort to widen the path into the profession without narrowing expectations.”
The Honor Roll goes beyond recognizing the diversity of student populations and places an emphasis on law schools’ mechanisms, including admissions pathways, affordability measures, program design choices, and student-support systems, that foster access to the legal profession. Mitchell Hamline’s “A” honor is “a recognition of meaningful action at a moment when access pathways matter more than ever,” according to the article.
“At Mitchell Hamline School of Law, it is embedded within our mission to provide a rigorous legal education through increasing access to law school and the legal profession. We have been committed to providing opportunity since our founding in 1900, for our law students today, and in exciting and innovative ways as we embrace the future,” said President and Dean Camille M. Davidson about this recognition.
“At Mitchell Hamline School of Law, flexibility is not one option among many—it is the foundation of the institution’s approach to access,” said the article.
It highlights Mitchell Hamline’s dedication to access and opportunity throughout our history—from our founding in 1900 as a night law school, St. Paul College of Law, to the introduction of blended learning in 2015, the nation’s first hybrid J.D. at an ABA-approved law school, to having the largest part-time enrollment of any law school in the country today. Regardless of enrollment option, Mitchell Hamline serves a student body with a wide breadth of backgrounds and life experiences and integrates support resources throughout students’ time at law school, including academic advising, career counseling, and bar preparation.