Open nowRolling / open intakeAward: Up to $400K
MAX by AccessLex
Financial Education
Who can apply: Offered at approximately 190 ABA-approved nonprofit and state-affiliated law schools and their students.
About Accesslex Institute
AccessLex Institute fosters broad-based access to quality legal education and works to maximize the value and affordability of a law degree through policy advocacy, research, grantmaking, and student-focused initiatives.
Focus Areas
Academic and Bar SuccessDiversity ProgramsFinancial EducationGrant ProgramsHelix Bar ReviewPolicy and AdvocacyResearch and Data
Who They Fund
law students (including 2L and evening/diverse enrollment cohorts)first-time bar exam takersunderrepresented/minority law studentslaw schools and law school programs (as institutional grantee)
Funding Style
About Accesslex Institute
Accesslex Institute’s recent grantmaking is shaped by legal education research and interventions that affect student success, bar passage, and access to the profession. The foundation funds law schools, state bars, and research organizations through program support and project-based awards, including invitation-only directed grants and open application programs in areas such as bar success, admissions innovation, and diversity pathway interventions. Recent grants show a repeated interest in studies and pilots that test specific levers in legal education, from curriculum choices and cohort structure to exam features and bar-preparation support. Among the larger recent awards, Pennsylvania State University received $250,000 in 2023 for program support and research, while Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law received $200,000 in 2024 for program support and research tied to one-and-done. The State Bar of California appears in multiple recent awards, including a $175,000 grant in 2025 for exam features experiment work and a $140,500 grant in 2025 for investigating the benefits of live remote proctoring. Accesslex Institute also backed the University of Arizona Law School, the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, and the National Center for State Courts on projects connected to bar success and legal education outcomes.
What Accesslex Institute Funds
In bar-exam work, Accesslex Institute supported the State Bar of California with $175,000 for an exam-features experiment and $140,500 for investigating live remote proctoring. Those awards align with the foundation’s bar success programs and its emphasis on research-backed interventions. For pathway and access work, the foundation gave Florida Atlantic University $90,000 for Pre-law University Services (plus) Expansion and Legal Education Access Pipeline $80,000 for program support and research. It also awarded $75,000 to DC School of Law Foundation for a Bar Exam Stipend and Training Program. The foundation’s research portfolio also includes academic success studies. Willamette University received $90,000 for assessing cohort structure on first-time bar outcomes, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison received $84,813 for assessment of campus financial education.
How Accesslex Institute Gives
Accesslex Institute’s typical grant size sits at a p25 of $15,382, a median of $28,768, and a p75 of $74,997, though many recent awards run well above the median. The recent record is dominated by one-time, project-based funding rather than recurring operating support, with repeated awards going to the same institutions across different years in some cases. The foundation also uses invitation-only directed grants alongside open programs, and some programs are explicitly research-oriented. Accesslex Institute makes program-related investments as well.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$2.3M
Total Assets
$1.6B
Total Revenue
$72.1M
Total Expenses
$83.2M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $15K and $75K, with a median of $29K.
25th Percentile
$15K
Median
$29K
75th Percentile
$75K
Geographic Reach
National29 states funded
About 2% of grants go to recipients in CA.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
CHRISTOPHER CHAPMAN
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