Understanding the impact of academic support programs on first-time bar passage for students at the University of Idaho College of Law

As racial and ethnic population changes occur in the United States these same changes should be reflected in the legal community of lawyers and judges. Although Black and Hispanic populations have been increasing over the past 30 years in the United States, this same proportionate increase has not occurred in the American Bar Association (ABA) approved law school populations. Minority representation in law schools and the legal profession has either remained steady or declined over the same period of time with the exception of Asian students despite the population changes. This study investigates the academic support programs of the University of Idaho (UI) College of Law. UI is a rural public law school located in the Pacific Northwest with less than 500 students currently ranked in the third tier of the U.S. News and World Report's Law School rankings. This study determined if participation in academic support programs aid students, particularly underrepresented minorities, in passing a bar examination on the first attempt. The Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) and Undergraduate Grade Point Average (UGPA) are used to determine if students are at-risk to successfully completing law school and pass a bar examination on their first attempt. This research consists of quantitative evaluation of survey data from 2004 to 2011 graduates who have taken at least one bar examination regarding their participation in academic support programs at the law school. Qualitative interviews were conducted with self-selected survey participants who graduated between 2005 and 2011 to determine if academic support programs aided them in graduating law school and passing the bar examination on their first attempt and, for those who did not pass on their first attempt, what they could have done differently. The implications of this study could change the format of future academic support programs resulting in increased diversity of law schools and ultimately the legal profession.