LSAC Pathway Grant Guidelines

Purpose of Grants

The Law School Admission Council, Inc. (“LSAC”) is committed to promoting access in legal education and the legal profession. The LSAC Pathway Grant (the “Grant”) program makes awards to institutions for programming focused on one or more of the following goals:

  • Goal 1: Early Access/Outreach
    Introducing the law and careers in law to students, particularly students facing access and opportunity barriers to information and education, before high school graduation
  • Goal 2: Score Performance
    Increasing LSAT scores of program participants, particularly participants facing access and opportunity barriers to information, education, and other supports/resources
  • Goal 3: Supporting Admissions
    Ensuring all applicants, including applicants facing access and opportunity barriers to information, education, and other supports/resources, have access, opportunity, and support in the law school process 
  • Goal 4: 1L Retention
    Reducing attrition rates and increasing persistence for law students after the first year of law school, particularly students facing access and opportunity barriers to information, education, and other supports/resources  

Pathway Grants are available to fund initiatives and projects for U.S. and Canadian institutions. Individuals are not eligible for Grant funding.

Eligibility

LSAC will consider Grant proposals from Institutions for projects that: 

  1. Represent programs affiliated with U.S. or Canadian institutions.
  2. Focus on one of the aforementioned goals.
  3. Center on increasing access to the legal profession for individuals, particularly students facing access and opportunity barriers to information, education, resources, and/or other support. These populations of interest may include, but are not limited to, financial/economic status, geography/rural communities, experience with homelessness, experience with the justice system, connection to the foster care system, diagnosis of one or more disabilities, first-generation status, tribal status, veteran status, and/or parental status. This list is not exhaustive. We welcome you to reach out to our team to discuss any innovative proposal ideas prior to application submission. 
  4. LSAC is also interested in supporting intervention-based research projects aimed at evaluating and increasing specific skills needed to ensure student success to and through law school. 
  5. If you wish to perform LSAT test preparation as part of your Pathway Program, you must use an officially authorized and licensed provider. View our list of Official LSAT Content Licensees. If you are unable to locate the desired test preparation provider on our webpage of Official LSAT Content Licensees, it may be based on a request from the test preparation provider not to be listed on this webpage. Please contact krogers@LSAC.org to inquire about whether a specific test preparation provider is an Official LSAT Content Licensee. 
  6. Eligible institutions include U.S. and Canadian 501(c)(3), nonprofits, not-for-profit, or postsecondary institutions with projects aimed at increasing access to the legal profession by focusing on one or more of the goals listed above. Each institution shall submit its Grant proposal in an accessible PDF format or screen-reader-accessible PDF format to LSAC. 

LSAC will not consider any requests to support one-day events or ceremonies, or for any projects or initiatives that do not align with LSAC’s mission.

Each institution may only receive one Grant from LSAC during each fiscal year (July 1 through June 30). Institutions are unlikely to receive more than two awards in a four-year period. Members of the LSAC Board of Trustees; the Access and Opportunity Initiatives Committee, its subcommittees, or work groups; and persons who have been members of one or more of these bodies within one year of the Grant application deadline (individually, a “Group” and, collectively, the “Groups”) are not eligible to apply on behalf of any institution that is considered to be their employer. 

Evaluation

The purpose of the evaluation is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Grant project and to contribute to a growing repository of best practices for pathway programs. 

Grant Proposal Components

Each Grant proposal must include (at a minimum):

  1. an introduction, including a stated alignment with one of the four target goals
  2. a description of your organizational background and a Statement of Need
  3. a program narrative
  4. a program description, including a description of the individuals the Grant program will serve
  5. a proposed program schedule
  6. an evaluation plan for how the institution will collect data to evaluate targeted program outcomes based on clear, measurable goals (e.g., pre-surveys, post-surveys, and interviews)

Download the grant proposal template (130 KB, PDF)

Deadlines and Review

Grant applications may be submitted at any time. However, LSAC will only review applications four times a year: July 1, October 1, January 1, and April 1, or on the first business day thereafter. All proposals received by the above-mentioned dates will be reviewed. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications at least two months before the start of their program. Grantees will be notified of the funding decision within six weeks.

Grant Amounts

The amount of the Grant award will vary depending on the proposed Grant project; however, the range of any Grant issued by LSAC generally will not exceed $9,000 each fiscal year in which the Grant program is administered. The Grant may not be used by any Institution to cover indirect expenses incurred by the Institution (e.g., office expenses, telephone expenses, rent, etc.).

Distribution of Grant Funds

Grant funds will be distributed by LSAC to the Institution based on the agreed upon payment schedules for the Grant program as mutually determined by LSAC and the Institution. LSAC will issue the first installment of the Grant award to the Institution upon the execution of the Grant Agreement entered into by LSAC and the Institution. Subsequent installments of the Grant award will be distributed to the Institution upon receipt and acceptance of an interim and/or final report and issuance of an invoice by the Institution to LSAC. The specific terms of each Grant award will be subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Grant Agreement entered into by LSAC and the Institution.

For the purposes of receipt of Grant funding, LSAC requires that a single Institution is the designee and recipient of the Grant funding.

Contact Information

For further information and to submit a Grant application, please contact Kamisha Rogers at krogers@LSAC.org.