Full-Tuition Scholarship to Graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Suffolk University Law School is excited to announce the Thaddeus Alexander Kitchener Scholarship. This award guarantees full-tuition scholarships at Suffolk Law for all students who are admitted to and enroll in a JD program at Suffolk Law in 2024, agree to commit to Suffolk Law via the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Program, and have received their undergraduate degree by the time of enrollment at Suffolk Law from one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (“HBCUs") listed below.
HBCU graduates who are not ready to commit to Suffolk Law through the HBCU Full-Tuition Agreement will still be awarded the Thaddeus Alexander Kitchener Scholarship. Students who earn their bachelor’s degree from one of the HBCUs listed below and are admitted to start a JD program at Suffolk Law in 2024 will be awarded:
- $35,000 per year in the full-time program, or
- $25,000 per year in the part-time evening program.
These awards will be renewed each year so long as the student remains in good academic standing at Suffolk Law.
Details
In order to qualify, students must meet the following requirements:
- Completed applications must be received by April 1 to be considered for full-tuition scholarships.
- Completed applications will be reviewed for admission by the Admission Committee.
- Eligible students must have received their undergraduate degree from one of the identified HBCUs at the time of their enrollment at Suffolk Law.
- Eligible students must agree to commit to Suffolk Law if admitted and submit the HBCU Full-Tuition Agreement with their completed application. Students granted a full-tuition scholarship will be required to submit a $500 nonrefundable deposit by January 12, 2024, or 21 days after admission, whichever is later, and withdraw applications to all other law schools. The HBCU Full-Tuition Agreement [PDF] can be submitted any time before the day of the admission decision.
- All eligible students who are admitted to start a JD program at Suffolk Law in 2024 and have submitted the HBCU Agreement will be awarded full-tuition scholarships each year of their enrollment to apply towards tuition at Suffolk Law.
- Eligible students who applied after April 1 or who did not submit the HBCU Agreement and who are admitted to start and enroll in a JD program at Suffolk Law in 2024 will be awarded $35,000 per year in the full-time program or $25,000 per year in the part-time evening program.
- The award will be renewed each year that students are at Suffolk Law so long as they remain in good academic standing.
- No additional application is needed. Students will be automatically awarded the scholarship when they are admitted to Suffolk Law.
- Additional terms and conditions apply.
Background
The scholarship is named for Thaddeus Alexander Kitchener, who was the first student of color to graduate with a law degree from Suffolk Law. Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, Kitchener graduated in 1913.
Suffolk Law launched the Kitchener Scholarship to make law school more affordable for students who demonstrate the ability to succeed in law school but who may not otherwise receive merit-based scholarships. We recognize that standardized testing and traditional merit-based scholarship models can be barriers to entry to law school and the legal profession for students from nontraditional backgrounds, and this scholarship is designed to address those barriers.
The Kitchener Scholarship is just one of the efforts undertaken by Suffolk Law to expand access to law school to students from diverse and nontraditional backgrounds. Suffolk Law was founded in 1906 with a goal of expanding access to a legal education. At the time, that meant creating an evening JD program to allow students who could not afford to quit their day jobs to earn a law degree. Now, more than 100 years later, Suffolk Law has made additional efforts to make law school more accessible, including:
- Launching the First Generation College Scholarship Program, which guarantees at least $20,000 in aid to all incoming students who are the first in their family to graduate from college and who attend one of the identified colleges and universities in the Northeast.
- Flexible degree programs that allow students to earn a law degree in nontraditional ways: accelerated JD, hybrid online JD, full and part-time JD programs, and dual degree programs.
- Creating a new dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion to oversee efforts by Suffolk Law to create a welcoming community where students from all races, ethnicities, and backgrounds can thrive.
- Empowering students who are the first in their family to attend law school in the First Generation Law Student Association, which is one of more than a dozen student affinity groups that bring together diverse students with academic support, networking, and mentoring.
The list of HBCUs
- Alabama A&M University
- Alabama State University
- Albany State University
- Alcorn State University
- Allen University
- American Baptist College
- Arkansas Baptist College
- Benedict College
- Bennett College
- Bethune-Cookman University
- Bluefield State College
- Bowie State University
- Central State University
- Cheyney University of Pennsylvania
- Claflin University
- Clark Atlanta University
- Clinton College
- Concordia College, Alabama
- Coppin State University
- Delaware State University
- Dillard University
- Edward Waters University
- Elizabeth City State University
- Fayetteville State University
- Fisk University
- Florida A&M University
- Florida Memorial University
- Fort Valley State University
- Grambling State University
- Hampton University
- Harris-Stowe State University
- Howard University
- Huston-Tillotson University
- Jackson State University
- Jarvis Christian College
- Johnson C. Smith University
- Kentucky State University
- Knoxville College
- Lane College
- Langston University
- LeMoyne-Owen College
- Lincoln University (Missouri)
- Lincoln University (Pa.)
- Livingstone College
- Miles College
- Mississippi Valley State University
- Morehouse College
- Morgan State University
- Morris Brown College
- Morris College
- Norfolk State University
- North Carolina A&T State University
- North Carolina Central University
- Oakwood University
- Paine College
- Paul Quinn College
- Philander Smith College
- Prairie View A&M University
- Rust College
- Savannah State University
- Selma University
- Shaw University
- Shorter College
- Simmons College of Kentucky
- South Carolina State University
- Southern University and A&M College
- Southern University at New Orleans
- Southern University at Shreveport
- Spelman College
- St. Augustine's University
- St. Philip's College
- Stillman College
- Talladega College
- Tennessee State University
- Texas College
- Texas Southern University
- Tougaloo College
- Tuskegee University
- University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
- University of Maryland Eastern Shore
- University of the District of Columbia
- University of the Virgin Islands
- Virginia State University
- Virginia Union University
- Virginia University of Lynchburg
- Voorhees College
- West Virginia State University
- Wilberforce University
- Wiley College
- Winston-Salem State University
- Xavier University of Louisiana