Awarded Grants

Enhancing the EA’s Productive Mindset Intervention and Disseminating Multi-Year Program Findings

The grantee’s Productive Mindset Intervention targets test-takers’ concerns about stress, belonging, and potential to help them interpret challenges associated with preparing for the exam in more adaptive ways. The Program encourages test-takers to reinterpret challenges as common and surmountable, as signs of learning (not failure), and as helpful indicators of where effort and attention could be productively applied. Under this grant, the grantee will: 1) enhance and implement its Productive Mindset Intervention on the California bar exam in July 2025, February 2026, and July 2026; 2) finalize analyses and disseminate comprehensive findings on the program’s multi-year impact; 3) prepare a specialized report for AccessLex focusing on bar exam repeaters. 4) conduct in-depth analyses and disseminate findings on bar passage predictors.

ALDIP Educational, Training and Support Programs

This grant will support the expansion of educational services offered by the Annual Meeting of Law School Diversity Professionals (“AMDiP”) and the formation of the Association of Law School Diversity Professionals (“ALDiP”), where stakeholders can access the collective knowledge, information and community needed to succeed within DEI practice. ALDiP will focus on three core initiatives: (1) education and training, (2) organizing and thought leadership, and (3) mentoring and support.

Empirical Study of Use of Students’ Prior Knowledge & Experience in Law School Teaching & Learning

We propose an extensive empirical study to provide unique insights into the effectiveness of convergent teaching in American law schools. We aim to achieve important insights for teaching, faculty recruitment and development to help students from a diverse range of backgrounds succeed in law school, pass the bar examination, and achieve successful legal careers. We would also establish an innovative multidisciplinary Center to disseminate and assist in implementing study findings nationally. 

University of San Diego Bar Exam Study Stipend Program

The University of San Diego (USD) Bar Exam Study Stipend Program helps recent graduates with expenses during bar study. For two years, USD ran a stipend program for graduates who were planning to work at a job during bar study, providing $4,500 for expenses if they agreed to not work, to complete substantially all of their bar course, and to meet with a bar success counselor. USD is planning to expand the program to include students at risk for failing the bar exam, regardless of work plans.

The City University of New York (CUNY) Law seeks to assess and expand its innovative and successful Pipeline to Justice Program. It is a cutting-edge, holistic, and immensely successful nine-month program that expands access to legal education. The overarching purpose for the grant and partnership is 1) to expand the size of the Pipeline to Justice Program and 2) collect and analyze data for comprehensive assessment to improve, share, promote, and scale the program.

Grant Title: Emerging Scholars Fellowship Program in Legal and Higher Education
 

The “Emerging Scholars Fellowship Program in Legal and Higher Education” is a renewal of the American Bar Foundation (ABF)’s successful fellowship program. This program seeks to identify and develop junior sociolegal scholars who would produce empirical and interdisciplinary research on issues in legal and higher education. This professional development will be provided through mentoring, intellectual and financial support.

Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform (CLEAR)

The Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform (CLEAR) will work to catalyze high-impact reforms from state supreme courts to further align bar admissions and legal education around bringing practice-ready, competent attorneys to meet the legal needs of communities across the country. This grant would support the creation of a working committee to draft a report of findings and recommendations on the current state of legal education from admissions to law school to admission to the bar.

Grant Title: JD-Next

JD-Next prepares a diverse body of students for law school by providing training in case briefing and legal analysis and then assessing their ability to succeed on a final exam, which has been determined to be a valid and reliable test comparable to legacy exams with no statistically significant racial disparities. The next step is to scale JD-Next so that it can be readily accessible and affordable for students across the country.

View Grant Outcomes.

Grant Title: Northern Illinois University College of Law Diversity Scholars Program
 

The NIU College of Law Diversity Scholars Program is a pipeline initiative that seeks to increase the number of academically qualified diverse students enrolled in law schools by establishing a pipeline program though formal agreements with colleges and universities with large diverse student populations. NIU Law will partner with undergraduate institutions to prepare students to be successful in the admissions process – working with them early in their college career through graduation.