Texas House OKs UNT law school in Dallas 12:02 PM CT
12:10 PM CDT on Wednesday, May 13, 2009
By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News
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AUSTIN – Dallas will be home to the state's next public law school under a bill that won tentative House approval today.
However, budget woes mean funding for the law school remains uncertain, at least for the next two years. At that point, officials could come back to the Legislature again for funding, or seek tuition revenue bonds instead.
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Still, North Texas lawmakers said simply getting approval for the University of North Texas Law School – which already passed the Senate – is a great achievement. This is the third legislative session in which they've pushed for it.
They've had to make Dallas' case over the requests of other regions for graduate schools, and over the recommendations of Texas' Higher Education Coordinating Board, which said there's no urgent need for a law school in North Texas.
North Texas lawmakers vehemently disagree. They say that while the region has two private law schools – at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth – there's no option for students who can't afford private school tuition.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area is the largest in the country without a public law school. Houston, meanwhile, has two, while Austin and Lubbock each have one.
The UNT Law School, which died in the House on a last-minute technicality in 2007, is also expected to be a boon for downtown Dallas: the historic Old City Hall has been set aside for the school, and the city of Dallas has offered more than $14 million in bond funds to get the facility ready.
The law school will need the help. The budget the Legislature is poised to approve does not include the $40 million needed to establish the school.
Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 4:41 pm