Evolving LSAC’s Fee Waiver Program for Even Greater Impact
At LSAC, we are driven by our mission to advance law and justice by promoting access, equity, and fairness in law school admission and supporting the learning journey from prelaw through practice. One of the many ways we seek to fulfill this mission is through our fee waiver program.
LSAC has the most generous fee waiver program among all assessment providers. For qualifying individuals, we provide a comprehensive package of our services (free LawHub Advantage test prep, free LSAT(s), free score preview(s), free Credential Assembly Service, free school reports). In 2021, we expanded the income eligibility so even more people could qualify, and we created a second tier of fee waivers for people who were less economically under-resourced but would still benefit from assistance.
Our fee waiver program undoubtedly is a valuable tool for helping to provide access to economically under-resourced individuals. Among the incoming law school class of 2022, 2,458 students received an LSAC fee waiver; for the incoming class of 2023, as the expanded eligibility began to fully kick in, 3,451 students received an LSAC fee waiver. The fee waiver program also has important implications for racial diversity; for the 2023 incoming class, 66% of the 3,541 matriculants who received an LSAC fee waiver were students of color. While these figures are important, many more fee waiver recipients ultimately end up not applying to law school or not attending.
We continuously evaluate our programs and services and are always working to improve them for greater impact. In that spirit, we are making a few changes in our LSAC Fee Waiver program to increase the effectiveness of our assistance to all fee waiver recipients, and to help them be even more successful in pursuing their goal of legal education.
Here’s a quick summary of the changes and why we’re making them:
The LSAC fee waiver program helps expand access to legal education by reducing the financial barriers for the most economically under-resourced aspiring students, but we need to do even more than simply provide access; we want to couple access with information and support. Economically under-resourced students often have faced systemic socio-economic and educational challenges and barriers throughout their lives and often don’t have as much information about how to apply to law school, and don’t have family members or other mentors who can help advise them on how to proceed.
In short, the LSAC fee waiver is necessary for advancing access and equity in law school admission, but it is not sufficient. Access is important, impact is the ultimate measure. LSAC’s fee waiver opens the door, but we need to do more to help make sure people are prepared to go through the door, especially since law school is such a significant commitment of time and money for students.
To that end, we have been looking at ways to enhance our fee waiver program, so that it helps aspiring students better understand how to apply to law school and helps improve their likelihood of securing admission and financial aid.
We are announcing some changes to our fee waiver program that will take effect September 3, 2024, for fee waivers granted based on applications submitted on or after September 3. Candidates will have access to all of the same fee waiver benefits as before, but on a phased basis. After completing certain clearly defined milestones designed to help guide them through the preparation, application, and admission process, they will unlock the relevant set of resources:
- All fee waiver recipients receive a free one-year subscription to LSAC’s LawHub Advantage resources, which are designed to help them better understand the planning and application process, research schools that are in line with their interests, and prepare to take the LSAT with a wide range of drill sets, explanations, and more than 50 full practice tests.
- To encourage proper preparation, fee waiver recipients will need to complete at least two full-length practice tests (in “Exam Mode” in LawHub) before they can use their fee waiver to register to take the LSAT. Research shows that individuals who take even 1-2 full-length practice tests tend to have more confidence and score higher on the LSAT than those who do not. Research also indicates that individuals who commit more time to building their skills and taking additional practice tests tend to see further improvement, so we hope this will encourage fee waiver recipients to do even more preparation, if possible, and fully utilize the wealth of LawHub Advantage resources included in the fee waiver package.
- Similarly, to help ensure prospective students have a solid understanding of the application process and the resources available, fee waiver recipients will be required to complete a short interactive LawHub course, “How Do I Apply to Law School?” before they can use their fee waiver to purchase LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service. We expect this course will take roughly 30 minutes for most individuals to complete, and it will help ensure they understand the key elements of the law school application process and know where to go for additional resources and information.
We also are adjusting some of the income and asset eligibility requirements for the program and are bringing certain government allowances in line with federal practices. We expect these changes to affect less than 5% of applicants.
We recognize the importance of LSAC’s fee waiver program for aspiring students with limited economic resources. Our goal in adopting these changes is to help guide recipients to make the most effective use of their fee waiver benefits. The milestones are important steps on the prelaw journey, and we expect they will help fee waiver recipients make informed choices about where, when, and how to apply to law school. The changes we are making are intended to address the needs of candidates more holistically and to help more fee waiver recipients successfully navigate the application and matriculation process, so they ultimately achieve their goal of going to law school.
