Student Matriculation
At the beginning of the Fall semester, each enrolled student is provided a copy of the Student Rules and Regulation. Law school administrators review these rules with first year law students during orientation.

The rules include information about student status, course loads, course of study, grade changes, academic dismissals, leaves of absence, taking courses at other law schools, and requirements for graduation. The Rules indicate which ones are considered waivable or non-waivable by the Academic Standards Committee and the Dean.

Required Hours
All students must successfully complete ninety hours (90) of credit in legal study.

Students must also successfully complete all "required" courses. A student is required to attend a minimum of ninety hours (90) to be eligible to receive the Juris Doctor degree.

A semester is fourteen weeks (14) of classes plus two weeks of credit for the examination period, and a Summer session is equivalent to eight weeks.

The last thirty semester hours in the study of law must be completed in residence at Thurgood Marshall School of Law. In exceptional circumstances, this requirement may be waived by submitting a written petition to the of the Law School Dean, who may, with the concurance of the Academic Standards Committee, grant such a waiver.

Faculty to Student Ratio
During the 2006-2007 academic year, the faculty-student ratio has averaged approximately one to nineteen (14:1).

Student Participation in Law School Governance
The faculty encourages student participation in Law School affairs. Under the current governing structure two students sit on each of five standing faculty committees. Those committees are as follows:

• Academic Standards
• Admissions, Financial Aid and Scholarships
• Curriculum
• Faculty Appointments
• Rank and Tenure
• Students/Faculty Relations
• Faculty Scholarship and Development
• Budget and Priorities
• Library Review

Additionally, the President of the Student Bar Association is the student representative on the Rank and Tenure Committee as well as a voting member at general faculty meetings. Students are also placed on all the ad hoc committees.

• Institutes and Certificate Programs
• Strategic Planning/Self Study

Testing
In 1989,TMSL adopted a uniform first-year exam program for all five first year substantive courses which consists of a sixty-question uniform examination that constitutes fifty percent 50% of the grade in each course.

The First Year Uniform Exam Policy was adopted to mimic the testing format of courses tested nationally on the "multi-state" portion of bar examinations, and was develped to insure fairness to students. It prevents significant grading pattern differences by first year professors, hence students with the same admission credentials have the same opportunity to excel, do average work, or fail regardless of the section to which they might be assigned.