Awarded Grants

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.

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.

Expanding Bar Admission Pathways to Fill Access to Justice Gaps in Arizona  

The Arizona Supreme Court has recently adopted the Arizona Lawyer Apprentice Program as a supplemental bar licensure pathway that will address general state needs for more lawyers and respond to the pervasive challenges of access to justice, including legal deserts in rural Arizona. This approach, combining alternative licensure and advanced training, could become a model for other states and builds on Arizona’s long tradition of legal innovation, including access to justice reforms.

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.

Florida Atlantic University Pre-Law University Services (PLUS) Expansion [PLUS-Expansion]

FAU's focus is on traditionally underrepresented groups in law. FAU will: 1) Create an inclusive pre-law community for all students, especially those historically underrepresented in law; 2) Eliminate barriers for law school applications; 3) Build a pre-law hub of services to enhance and integrate existing FAU Pre-Law University Services (PLUS) resources; and 4) Establish a formal articulation agreement with St. Thomas University, setting an example for partnerships with other law institutions.

Summer Pre-Law Program Arkansas [SPPARK]

SPPARK is an intervention program that addresses challenges in the educational pipeline to the legal profession by exposing historically underrepresented students to information, skills, resources and mentors focused on facilitating successful matriculation into law school and the legal profession. We will conduct a quasi-experimental process and outcome evaluation of SPPARK that involves the differential treatment of participants with high-intensity treatment and low-intensity control groups.

2023 Bar Success Research Grant Program

This study seeks to examine the effects of undergraduate institution type on Bar Exam passage rates. The insights that may be gained from this study can serve to assist HBCUs in designing their pre-law offerings and allocating their resources accordingly. Additionally, these findings may better inform and empower HBCUs and their collaborative partners (e.g., law schools, law firms, and other business/professional entities) seeking to positively impact diversity in the legal profession.