Since launching our grantmaking activities in 2014, we have awarded over $26.4 million in support of our research priorities: access, affordability, and the value of legal education.
Awarded Grants
Grant Program
Grant Status

American University
The project will estimate the causal effect of participating in legal-career-related extracurricular activities while in law school on the chances of passing the Bar exam on the first attempt together with how racial, ethnic, or gender differences in extracurricular participation contribute to corresponding gaps in Bar success rates. View grant outcomes.

UC Hastings College of the Law
This grant will support the study of teaching reforms and academic and bar success interventions implemented at UC Hastings College of the Law.
View grant outcomes.

Indiana University Maurer School of Law
The project seeks to...
- Evaluate a replication on the State Bar of California’s July 2019 Bar exam of a Productive Mindset intervention that improved passage rates on its July 2018 exam.
- Examine predictors of bar passage in a data set compiled with over 7,000 takers across three years of California’s exams.
- Scale the Productive Mindset program to three new jurisdictions and examine predictors of passage in a multi-jurisdictional data set of over 10,000 takers of the July 2021 bar exam.

Hofstra University
The project will develop metacognitive teaching materials to be used within the law school curriculum and study the impact of this instructional intervention on bar passage. The project will use a mixed methods approach, using both qualitative and quantitative data, to examine whether students who are taught and prompted to engage in metacognitive skills develop stronger skills over time.
View grant outcomes.

University of Cincinnati
The grant will conduct rigorous, multi-site analyses to develop a richer empirical model of bar passage and improve understanding through qualitative interviews of student graduates. The grant will use this information to extend existing literature and build research-practice partnerships that provide university partners with actionable insight into programmatic decisions, student interventions and supports, and advising.
View grant outcomes.

University of Georgia
A $50,000 research grant was awarded to Associate Professor of Higher Education Karen Webber, with the University of Georgia, to examine the increase in graduate student debt between 2008 and 2012.

American University
A $49,000 research grant was awarded to Seth Gershenson, assistant professor at American University, to explore whether the demographic match between law school instructors and students affects students’ academic progress and career paths.
To read more, please visit Stereotype Threat, Role Models, and Demographic Mismatch in an Elite Professional School Setting

University of Georgia
A $50,000 research grant was awarded to Manuel Gonzalez Canche, assistant professor at the University of Georgia, to estimate the effect of losing the federal loan subsidy on debt accumulation for law and professional students.

University of Florida
A $47,000 research grant was awarded to Assistant Professor Dennis Kramer, with the University of Florida, to examine the impact of need-based aid programs on the graduate and professional school enrollment of low-income students at the institutional and national levels.
To read more, please visit More Money, More Opportunities: The Impact of a No-Loan Program on the PostBaccalaureate Enrollment Decisions of Low-Income and First-Generation Students