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

The Law College Association of the University of Arizona - James E. Rogers College of Law
This grant will pilot a seven and a half-week online course teaching standard contracts and foundational skills in case-reading and analysis to 250 aspiring JD students. The course is intended to expose students to the materials and methods of legal education and better prepare them for success in JD programs. A more valid and reliable predictor of student performance in law school will be developed using factors beyond standardized test scores and undergraduate grades.

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois on behalf of The John Marshall Law School
This grant supports a study of the impact of High performance cognitive training – Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training (SMART) has on improving cognitive performance, and thus academic performance and bar passage.
To read more, please visit Texas Tech adopts SMART brain training for its 1Ls

University of Massachusetts
This grant supports a study of students’ social networks that will examine whether certain connections are associated with law school success. The project will focus on whether students from diverse backgrounds lack access to key social connections and to what extent network inequality accounts for disparities in legal education outcomes.

Emory University
A $86,603 grant was awarded to Emory University to measure the institutional efficiencies in producing student outputs for legal education. The project will use American Bar Association data and the Analytix tool, to develop a method of ranking schools based on a sophisticated conception of outputs and value-added.

Indiana University Maurer School of Law
Indiana University received a grant to support the analysis of LSSSE data to determine in which ways social belonging influences law students’ engagement and success. In addition, this grant will support the development, implementation, and evaluation of a productive mindset intervention for final-semester law students and recent law school graduates who are sitting, for the July 2018 California bar exam.

Washington University School of Law
The Washington University School of Law received a grant to support a multi-school examination of the relationship between experiential coursework, bar subject coursework, outcomes on the bar examination, and securing an initial post-graduation legal job.
To read more, please visit A Study of the Relationship between Law School Coursework and Bar Exam Outcomes

University of South Carolina School of Law
The University of South Carolina School of Law received a grant to assess the viability of race-neutral alternatives in law school admissions. The study surveyed first-year law students on race-neutral aspects of their identity to determine the relationship, if any, between race and identity factors.
To read more, please visit Assessing the Viability of Race-Neutral Alternatives in Law School Admissions

St. Mary's University School of Law
St. Mary’s Law Success Program is an innovative effort to incorporate law school assessment and essential skills to enhance graduates’ success in the study and practice of law. The grant from AccessLex Institute provided general support.
To read more, please visit Support for Law Success

National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA)
To better understand the motivations and needs of prospective law and graduate students, NASFAA conducted research to determine what consumer information is most vital to students while making informed borrowing decisions with regard to enrollment in and completion of law and other graduate and professional programs.
To read more, please visit Market Research on Law School Student Aid Award Letters and Shopping Sheet Information