Grantee Research
Through various grant programs, AccessLex Institute provides funding for research that focuses on its core research priorities of access, affordability and value of legal education, and that complements its research and data collection activities.
Submissions from 2024
Validity, Reliability, and Fairness Evidence for the JD-Next Exam, Steven Holtzman, Jonathan Steinberg, Jonathan Weeks, Christopher Robertson, Jessica D. Findley, and David M. Klieger
What High-Impact Practices Work for Minoritized Students? Institutional Inequities in College Learning Opportunities and Outcomes, Jaekyung Lee, Namsook Kim, Mengchen Su, and Samantha Greenwood
Determinants of Success on the Bar Exam: One Law School's Experience 2010-2023, Morris A. Ratner, Stephen N. Goggin, Stefano Moscato, Margaret Greer, and Elizabeth McGriff
What Occupational Licensing Requirements Protect the Public? Evidence from the Legal Profession, Kyle Rozema
Putting the Bar to the Test: An Examination of the Predictive Validity of Bar Exam Outcomes on Lawyering Effectiveness, Jason M. Scott, Stephen N. Goggin, Rick Trachok, Jenny S. Kwon, Sara Gordon, Dean Gould, Fletcher S. Hiigel, Leah Chan Grinvald, and David Faigman
Submissions from 2023
The Association of Participating in a Summer Prelaw Training Program and First-Year Law School Students’ Grades, Heather M. Buzick, Christopher Robertson, Jessica D. Findley, Heidi Legg Burross, Matthew Charles, and David M. Klieger
How the Student-Faculty Demographic Impacts Law School Graduate Attrition, Attrition Rate, J.D.s Awarded, and Bar Passage (Part 1), Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio
How the Student-Faculty Demographic in an Academic Calendar (Fall and Spring) Impacts Law School Graduate Attrition, Attrition Rate, J.D.s Awarded, and Bar Passage (Part 2), Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio
The Influence of Metacognitive Skills on Bar Passage: An Empirical Study, Jennifer A. Gundlach and Jessica R. Santangelo
Building Belonging: Proven Methods to Decrease Attrition and Best Serve Law Students, Leila Lawlor
Report on the "Survey of Perspectives on Being a Lawyer", Jerome M. Organ
Investigating the Benefits of Live Remote Proctoring, State Bar of California
Submissions from 2022
American Law School Dean Study, Association of American Law Schools
The Pro Bono Penalty: Extracurricular Activities and Demographic Disparities in Bar Exam Success, Chris Birdsall and Seth Gershenson
"It Is Okay to Not Be Okay": The 2021 Survey of Law Student Well-Being, David Jaffe, Katherine M. Bender, and Jerome Organ
Who Watches the Watchmen? Using the Law Governing Lawyers to Identify the Applicant Duty Gap and Hold Bar Examiner Gatekeepers Accountable, Ashley M. London
An Access and Equity Ranking of Public Law Schools, Christopher L. Mathis
The Secret Sauce: Examining Law Schools That Overperform on the Bar Exam, Christopher J. Ryan Jr. and Derek T. Muller
Submissions from 2021
Promoting Graduation Outcomes for Racially Minoritized Law School Students: Examining the Role of Finances, Racial Representation, and Prestige, Nicholas A. Bowman, Nicholas R. Stroup, and Solomon Fenton-Miller
The Enrollment of Racially Minoritized Students in Law School: Factors Predicting Within- and Between-School Variation, Nicholas A. Bowman, Nicholas R. Stroup, and Solomon Fenton-Miller
JD-Next: A Randomized Experiment of an Online Scalable Program to Prepare Diverse Students for Law School, Katherine C. Cheng, Jessica Findley, Adriana Cimetta, Heidi Legg Burross, Matt Charles, Cayley Balser, Ran Li, and Christopher Robertson
JD-Next: A Valid and Reliable Tool to Predict Diverse Students’ Success in Law School, Jessica Findley, Adriana Cimetta, Heidi Legg Burross, Katherine C. Cheng, Matt Charles, Cayley Balser, Ran Li, and Christopher Robertson
Closing the Law School Gap: A Collaborative Effort to Address Educational Inequities Through Free, Asynchronous Tools, Steven Foster, Melissa Hale, Nicole Lefton, John Mayer, Laura Mott, and Allie Robbins
Does a University's Enslavement History Play a Role in Black Student-White Faculty Interactions? A Structural Equation Model, Juan C. Garibay and Christopher Mathis
The Effect of the Uniform Bar Examination on Admissions, Diversity, Affordability, and Employment across Law Schools in the United States, Manuel S. González Canché, Taylor K. Odle, and Ji Yeon Bae
Examining the Determination, Consistency, and Variation of Law School Cost of Living Estimates, Willis A. Jones
Access to Graduate School: A Quantitative Study of Interest in Selective MBA Programs, Chad I. Losee
Mindsets in Legal Education, Victor D. Quintanilla and Sam Erman
Undergraduate Financial Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors: The Impact of Financial Life Skills Course on College Students, Cliff A. Robb and Somalis Chy
Exploring the Impact of Test-Flexible Admissions on Law School Diversity and Selectivity, Kelly Ochs Rosinger, Karly S. Ford, Julie Posselt, and Junghee Choi
Factors Associated with Graduate and Professional Students' Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Krista M. Soria and Bonnie M. Horgos
Looking Back: A Case Study of Career Interest and Experiential Learning in Law School, David I. C. Thomson and Stephen Daniels
Submissions from 2020
2020 AccessLex Legal Education Research Symposium Presentations, AccessLex Institute
The Effects of Demographic Mismatch in an Elite Professional School Setting, Christopher Birdsall, Seth Gershenson, and Raymond Zuniga
Do I Belong at This Law School?: How Perceived Experiences of Bias, Stereotype Concerns, and Social Capital Influence Law Students' Sense of Belonging, Elizabeth Bodamer
The Value of Legal Education as a Continuum of Personal & Collective Gains: Insight from Administrators & Latinx Students Across Differently-Ranked Law Schools, Andrés Castro Samayoa and Raquel Muñiz
Immigrant and International College Students' Learning Gaps: Academic and Sociocultural Readiness for Career and Graduate/Professional Education, Jaekyung Lee, Namsook Kim, and Mengchen Su
Building a Better Bar: The Twelve Building Blocks of Minimum Competence, Deborah Jones Merritt and Logan Cornett
Evaluating Productive Mindset Interventions that Promote Excellence on California’s Bar Exam, Victor D. Quintanilla, Sam Erman, Mary C. Murphy, and Greg Walton
Examining the Relationship Between Law School Rank and Student Engagement, Louis M. Rocconi and Austin Boyd
Paying for Law School: Law Student Loan Indebtedness and Career Choices, Christopher J. Ryan Jr.
Examining the California Cut Score: An Empirical Analysis of Minimum Competency, Public Protection, Disparate Impact, and National Standards, Mitchel L. Winick, Victor D. Quintanilla, Sam Erman, Christina Chong-Nakatsuchi, and Michael Frisby
A Five-Year Retroactive Analysis of Cut Score Impact: California’s Proposed Supervised Provisional License Program, Mitchel Winick, Victor D. Quintanilla, Sam Erman, Christina Chong-Nakatsuchi, and Michael Frisby
Submissions from 2019
Measuring Law Student Success from Admissions Through Bar Passage: More Data the Bench, Bar and Academy Need to Know, Andrea A. Curcio, Hong Jiang, Mary Lu Bilek, Jessica Gabel Cino, and Allie Robbins
"Education, Not Deportation": A Pilot Study of Undocumented Student Experiences in Law and Medical Degree Programs, Kevin Escudero, Rachel E. Freeman, Tina M. Park, and Vania Pereira
Examining Gender and Race Intersectionality in Public Law School Admissions and Enrollment: A Multi-Institutional Analysis, Frank Fernandez, Hyun Kyoung Ro, and Miranda Wilson
A Preliminary Study Looking Beyond LSAT and LGPA: Factors During the Bar Study Period That May Affect Bar Exam Passage, Hong Jiang, Andrea A. Curcio, and Kim D'Haene
A Study of the Relationship Between Law School Coursework and Bar Exam Outcomes, Robert R. Kuehn and David R. Moss
Analyzing Law School Choice, Christopher J. Ryan Jr.
Measuring Institutional Efficiencies in Producing Student Outputs for Legal Education, Justin C. Shepherd
Graduate and Professional Education for Students with Disabilities: Examining Access to STEM, Legal, and Health Fields in the United States, Ryan S. Wells and Suzan Kommers
Evaluating the Impact of the Post-9/11 GI Bill on Veterans' Graduate School Enrollment, Liang Zhang
Aspirations and Decisions to Enroll in Graduate Programs: A Literature Review of Contributing Factors, Liang Zhang and Zackary Harris
Submissions from 2018
Before the JD: Undergraduate Views on Law School, Association of American Law Schools and Gallup
Law Student Success and Supports: Examining Bar Passage and Factors That Contribute to Student Performance, Amy N. Farley, Christopher M. Swoboda, Joel Chanvisanuruk, Keanen M. McKinley, and Alicia Boards
Predicting Law School Enrollment: The Strategic Use of Financial Aid to Craft a Class, Heeyun Kim, Meghan Oster, Natsumi Ueda, and Stephen L. DesJardins
Dollars and Sense: Student Price Sensitivity to Law School Tuition, Amy Y. Li
The Paradox of Minority Attorney Satisfaction, Milan Markovic and Gabriele Plickert
The Effect of Title IX on Gender Disparity in Graduate Education, Nayoung Rim
Sticky Floors, Springboards, Stairways & Slow Escalators: Mobility Pathways and Preferences of International Students in U.S. Law Schools, Carole Silver and Swethaa S. Ballakrishnen
Law Student Debt: Changes from 2008 to 2012 and Implications for the Future, Karen L. Webber and Rachel A. Burns
Equality at the Starting Line? Gender- and Race-Based Differences at the Transition from Law School to the Legal Profession, Yonghong Jade Xu
The Contracting Market for Law School Admissions in the United States, Robert Zemsky
Submissions from 2017
The Perennial (and Stubborn) Challenge of Cost, Affordability, and Access in Legal Education: 'We Will Continue to Muddle Through', Stephen Daniels
Foundations for Practice: Hiring the Whole Lawyer: Experience Matters, Alli Gerkman and Logan Cornett
An Empirical Examination of the Bennett Hypothesis in Law School Prices, Robert Kelchen
Attorneys' Career Dissatisfaction in the New Normal, Milan Markovic and Gabriele Plickert
Are Law Degrees as Valuable to Minorities?, Frank McIntyre and Michael Simkovic
Net Tuition Trends by LSAT Category from 2010 to 2014 with Thoughts on Variable Return on Investment, Jerome M. Organ
If You Build it, They Will Come: What Students Say About Experiential Learning, David I. C. Thomson and Stephen Daniels
The Rising Tide of Graduate Student Debt: Evidence of Change 2008 to 2012, Karen L. Webber and Rachel Burns
Market Analysis for Law School Admissions, Robert Zemsky, Patricia Burch, and Richard Morgan
Submissions from 2016
Examining Sex and Ethnoracial Differences in Graduate School Enrollment, Mark E. Engberg, Gregory C. Wolniak, Radomir R. Mitic, and Andrew French
Foundations for Practice: The Whole Lawyer and the Character Quotient, Alli Gerkman and Logan Cornett
Does the Bennett Hypothesis Hold in Professional Education? An Empirical Analysis, Robert Kelchen
Law School Prices and the Enrollment of Students from Different Racial Backgrounds, Amy Y. Li
Value of a Law Degree by College Major, Frank McIntyre and Michael Simkovic
Market Research on Law School Student Aid Award Letters and Shopping Sheet Information, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
Assessing the Viability of Race-Neutral Alternatives in Law School Admissions, Eboni S. Nelson, Ronald Pitner, and Carla D. Pratt
Implications of Attrition from Graduate Education to Labor Market Outcomes, Hironao Okahana and Ziyan Bai
The Role of Community College Attendance in Shaping Baccalaureate Recipients’ Access to Graduate and Professional Education, Xueli Wang, Yen Lee, and Kelly Wickersham
Submissions from 2015
Borrowing Smarter or Borrowing More? Investigating the Effects of a Natural Experiment in Federal Loan Policy, Manuel S. González Canché
Estimating the Effect of Losing the Federal Loan Subsidy on Debt Accumulation for Law and Professional Students in the United States: Evidence from a Natural Experiment, Manuel S. González Canché and Jason C. Lee
More Money, More Opportunities: The Impact of a No-Loan Program on the Post-Baccalaureate Enrollment Decisions of Low-Income and First-Generation Students, Dennis A. Kramer II and Justin C. Ortagus
Timing Law School, Frank McIntyre and Michael Simkovic
A Value-Added Ranking of Law Schools, Christopher J. Ryan Jr.
