First-year law student retention and the use of academic support programs

The problem investigated in this study was the retention of first-year law students, with emphasis on the retention of African American students. Since law student attrition varies significantly from school to school, this study compared retention practices at selected public law schools in an effort to explain varying attrition rates. A survey instrument was used to collect law school retention practice data from 39 schools. Law student attrition data (over a five-year period, beginning with 1994--1995) were provided for the study by the American Bar Association (ABA).;The study found substantial differences in the attrition rates of first-year law students (all students and African American students) within and among the 39 law schools studied. In the law schools studied, a number and variety of special retention efforts in the form of academic support programs (ASPs) were being used in 1998--1999 to try to increase retention of first-year law students. The researcher found no substantive relationships between attrition rates and the number or kind of retention programs for either population studied (all students and African American students). Additionally, the number and types of academic support programs (ASPs) provided in the 39 law schools studied appear to have little impact on the attrition rates of first-year law students.