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 2025, 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") linked 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 linked below and are admitted to start a JD program at Suffolk Law in 2025 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 March 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 14, 2025, 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 March 1 deadline.
- All eligible students who are admitted to start a JD program at Suffolk Law in 2025 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.