AccessLex
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
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University of St. Thomas School of Law
Program:
Unsolicited Grants Program
Date:
May 2020
Amount:
$69,300
Status:
Completed
Over the last few years, a growing number of law schools have implemented a required first-year course/program focused on professional development or professional identity formation. To date, there has been no assessment of which of the courses/programs are most successful in advancing students with respect to learning outcomes associated with professional development. This project would be designed to assess these courses/ programs and to identify the most successful pedagogies.
View grant outcomes.
Monterey College of Law
Program:
Directed Grants Program
Date:
May 2020
Amount:
$76,000
Status:
Awarded
This study will be the first of its kind to compile and analyze empirical data from regulatory agencies (state and national bar associations), industry trade groups (malpractice insurers), and other published academic and professional research. The primary objective is to inform national and state policy decisions through an empirical analysis of the relationship between a minimum bar exam passing score (“cut score”) and minimum competency, public protection, and disparate impact. This is a companion study to the AccessLex Institute supported California Attorney Practice Analysis (CAPA).
University of Minnesota
Program:
Research and Dissertation Fellows Program
Date:
May 2020
Amount:
$49,794
Status:
Awarded
Research grant awarded to Krista Soria, Director of Student Affairs Assessment at the University of Minnesota, to better understand the roles of financial factors (e.g., funding sources, debt, financial stress, and food and housing insecurity) in graduate, professional, and law students’ mental health, time to degree completion, and career interests.
Pennsylvania State University
Program:
Research and Dissertation Fellows Program
Date:
May 2020
Amount:
$50,000
Status:
Awarded
Research grant awarded to Kelly Rosinger, Assistant Professor at Pennsylvania State University’s College of Education, to examine how LSAT-optional admissions policies impact diversity (e.g., the share and number of Black, Latinx, and Native American students enrolled) and selectivity (e.g., the number of applicants, acceptance rate, and the LSAT scores of enrollees) at adopting U.S. law schools.
University of Kentucky
Program:
Research and Dissertation Fellows Program
Date:
May 2020
Amount:
$50,000
Status:
Awarded
Research grant awarded to Willis Jones, Associate Professor at University of Kentucky’s College of Education, to study variation in cost of living estimates among U.S. law schools.
University of Iowa
Program:
Research and Dissertation Fellows Program
Date:
May 2020
Amount:
$49,712
Status:
Awarded
Research grant awarded to Nicholas Bowman, Professor at University of Iowa’s College of Education, to examine factors that predict changes in enrollment and graduation of students from marginalized racial groups at U.S. law schools.
University of Pennsylvania
Program:
Research and Dissertation Fellows Program
Date:
May 2020
Amount:
$25,000
Status:
Awarded
Dissertation grant awarded to Chad Losee, Ed.D. candidate in Higher Education Management at University of Pennsylvania, to better understand factors related to the aspirations to pursue a top-ranked graduate degree (e.g., MBA).
University of Wisconsin Law School
Program:
Financial Education Research Grant Program
Date:
April 2020
Amount:
$102,914
Status:
Completed
The project is intended to increase our understanding of how a Financial Life Skills (FLS) course can potentially improve undergraduate students' financial knowledge, capability, and well-being. There are three critical aspects related to college students that we wish to explore in this study: financial knowledge, financial attitudes, and financial behavior.
University of San Diego
Program:
Unsolicited Grants Program
Date:
April 2020
Amount:
$45,000
Status:
Completed
The University of San Diego School of Law’s (USD) Center for Public Interest Law (CPIL), in partnership with the School of Business Department of Economics, plans to research inequality with respect to access to legal services. USD will investigate whether the lack of diversity in the attorney workforce directly impacts access to legal services by low-income, disadvantaged consumers, and whether the existing cut score of California’s Bar Exam is contributing to the justice gap in California.
View grant outcomes.