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

Brown University
A $50,000 research grant was awarded to Kevin Escudero, Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnic Studies, to examine post-college educational trajectories of undocumented students.

University of Houston
A $46,722 research grant was awarded to Frank Fernandez, Assistant Professor with the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, to examine gender and race intersectionality in public law school admissions and enrollment.

The Pennsylvania State University
A $25,000 dissertation grant was awarded to Ya-Chi Hung, Graduate Assistant, to examine what shapes students’ graduate degree aspirations.

University of Massachusetts Amherst
A $49,816 research grant was awarded to Ryan Wells, Associate Professor with the Department of Educational Policy, Research and Administration, to explore how the lack of affordability and positive aspirations for further education may play a role in disproportionate access to graduate and professional education.

New York University
A $49,973 research grant was awarded to Liang Zhang, Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Administration, Leadership, and Technology, to evaluate the overall impact of the Post-9/11 GI Bill on graduate and professional school attendance among veterans, as well as its potentially heterogeneous impact across veteran groups of different age, gender, race/ethnicity, and disability rating.

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.

American Bar Foundation
Dr. Robert Nelson has been awarded a grant to analyze longitudinal data collected from the After the JD Study of Lawyer Careers to determine the role of legal education in careers. This grant will support the work of young scholars who are providing research support throughout the project.

Dillard University
This grant supports the Foundation to Legal Education Advancing Diversity (LEAD) program. The program will provide rising college juniors with analytical and logical reasoning skills to ensure their success on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and in law school.

Dillard University
This grant supports the Legal Education Advancing Diversity (LEAD) program which offers students and graduates from underrepresented background the opportunity to participate in year-long program. The program provides these students with LSAT preparation, strategies for creating a competitive law school application, support throughout the application process, and a mentorship program.