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 Abstract

Excerpted From: Reem Haikal, Professors Cure, Academic Support Cares: the Potential Role of Academic Support in Increasing Graduation Rates at Law Schools at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 52 University of Baltimore Law Forum 63 (Fall, 2021) (207 Footnotes) (Full Document)

ReemHaikalIn times where legal education is evolving, academic support at law schools has become more important. Academic Support Programs (ASP) help law students improve the skills required to succeed in law school. Academic support educators are usually in charge of 1) teaching customized workshops that are structured to meet the learning needs of the first-year law students (1Ls); 2) teaching bar preparation courses; 3) coaching bar takers and providing personalized study schedules; 4) managing tutorials; and 5) working one-on-one with at-risk students through counseling and advising. Furthermore, academic support educators prepare handouts and give lectures always considering the connection between the students' own knowledge, learning abilities, the subject matter, and the Bar Exam. Through guiding and coaching, academic support educators help nurture students' interests in the most challenging subjects. They also give students personalized feedback on how to improve their writing and test-taking skills. Finally, academic support educators collaborate closely with faculty to evaluate students' strengths and weaknesses by giving quizzes and questions that mimic those in the Bar Exam.

This article examines the vital role of academic support in law schools at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, where minorities and the underprivileged are the vast majority. The article consists of three parts. Part 1 defines Historically Black Colleges and Universities (known as “HBCUs” and briefly examines their history and evolution. We begin with the historical background behind the creation and evolution of HBCUs because a look into the present status of HBCUs is incomplete without an understanding of their past. Historically, African Americans were generally denied admission to traditionally white institutions (TWI), even after the establishment of HBCUs. Because of this, “HBCUs became the principal means for providing postsecondary education to black Americans.” HBCUs remain an important part of the African American community as these institutions offer an environment free from racial tensions and discrimination.

Part 2 of this article examines how some public undergraduate institutions were able to close the graduation gap between minority and non-minority students. The reason behind this in-depth examination is to assist us with drawing from the experience of these successful programs that can be implemented at HBCUs to better help minority students. The achievement gap represents “the disparity in academic achievement between minority and disadvantaged students and their white counterparts.” The focus of this article is on public, nonprofit institutions because two-thirds of minority students who attend a four-year college attend a public institution. Examining ASP at these successful institutions provides useful lessons that could help law schools at HBCUs better serve their students. It is important to note that, in discussing ways to close the graduation gap between minority students and non-minority students in undergraduate institutions, this article does not look at the admissions criteria. There is also no consideration on whether non-minority students are doing better or worse than minority students. The focus is on how academic support programs are helping minority students succeed in undergraduate institutions and thus reducing the graduation gap. In other words, this article is only looking at colleges that narrowed gaps by making gains in graduation rates among minority students, while either keeping graduation rates for non-minority students steady or by improving rates among these students as well.

Finally, Part 3 of this paper discusses how ASP can help faculty and students at HBCUs law schools drawing from the experience of successful programs that other public undergraduate institutions have implemented in order to close the graduation gap.

This article has two intended audiences. First, the administration and faculty at HBCUs and any other institution seeking to reduce the graduation gap between minority and non-minority students. Second, academic support programs educators at law schools who will find a framework to reconstruct the programs that they offer to better help their students.

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The graduation gap between minority and non-minority students continues to be a serious issue in higher education. Providing students with ASP is essential for institutions seeking to help minority students successfully graduate. This is evident in how many public undergraduate institutions were able to narrow the graduation gap by helping students through academic support programs. These institutions were able to narrow the gaps by making gains in graduation rates among minority students, while either keeping graduation rates for non-minority students steady or by improving rates among these students as well. Yet, as demonstrated above, the experiences of these institutions will be helpful to HBCU law schools in implementing ASP that would help their students succeed.


Assistant Director of Academic Success and Bar Readiness, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University.


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