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

University of Arkansas School of Law
Summer Pre-Law Program (SPPARK) is an annual program designed to expand diversity in law school and the legal profession. The program is delivered over three weeks in the summer and accepts approximately 25 students per cohort. The program is held at the University of Arkansas School of Law. View grant outcomes.

UC Hastings College of the Law
This project would test the validity of the Nevada bar exam and, by extension, state bar exams generally. The objective is to determine whether and to what extent state bar exams are predictive of practice capacities.
To read more, please visit A better bar exam? Law profs weigh in on whether test accurately measures skills required for law practice.
View grant outcomes.

St. John's University School of Law
The Ron Brown Prep Program supports students from traditionally underserved and underrepresented groups—who are often the first in their families to attend college—as they apply to law school and pursue legal careers. Grant funding will support program efforts to increase the number of student participants, make the current program more affordable for students, strengthen ties with program alumni, and improve program measurement and evaluation methods.
To read more, please visit http://www.stjohns.edu/law/ronald-h-brown-center-civil-rights/ronald-h-brown-law...

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 Pennsylvania
The Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education received a grant to analyze the law school admissions market. A set of regression models were estimated for predicting the prices charged by law schools reporting data to the American Bar Association. Similarly, institutional characteristics such as LSAT scores, bar passage rates and employment outcomes were mapped.

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

American Bar Foundation
The American Bar Foundation received a grant award to follow up on the work of the American Bar Association Task Force on the Financing of Legal Education. The data that was collected as part of the Task Force’s work, in combination with other data and materials, will be fully analyzed in order to address challenges facing legal education.

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