AccessLex
Legal Education Access Pipeline, Inc. (LEAP)
Program: Diversity Pipeline Intervention Grant Program
Grantee: Legal Education Access Pipeline, Inc.
Grant Amount: $207,000
Summary of Grant Outcomes
Legal Education Access Pipeline, Inc. (LEAP) is a non-profit organization that seeks to diversify the legal profession by preparing underrepresented students to become successful law school applicants, lawyers, and agents of social change. LEAP serves college juniors, seniors, and recent graduates from racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds that are underrepresented in the legal profession. The program consists of a nine-month Fellowship program, where fellows develop practical skills related to lawyering, preparing for the LSAT, and applying to law school. After the completion of the Fellowship program, students participate in a seven-month Pre-L Boot Camp, which helps them prepare for success in law school.
The grant funded the program evaluation for Cohort 3 (2022) and Cohort 4 (2023). Programming took place at two sites during this grant period: Loyola Law School in Southern California and Santa Clara University School of Law in Northern California. The Fellowship program had 47 fellows in Cohort 3 and 49 fellows in Cohort 4. Findings from their evaluations indicate that the most impactful elements of the curriculum included LSAT preparation, career panels, and law school application consulting. There were other notable accomplishments:
- Seventy-five percent of Cohort 3 felt confident in their LSAT-taking skills at the end of their Fellowship. Thirty percent of fellows saw at least a seven-point increase in their LSAT score.
- Ninety percent of Cohort 4 felt confident in their LSAT-taking abilities at the end of their Fellowship. Sixty-one percent of fellows saw at least a seven-point increase in their LSAT score.
- LEAP fellows had an average score of 153 for Cohort 3 and 154 for Cohort 4.
- Among the 47 fellows who completed the program in Cohort 3, close to 50% applied to law school and 100% of those applicants were accepted.
- Fellows from Cohort 4 are expected to apply to law school in Fall 2023.