Promoting the Program to Students & the Public

Student Eligibility

I. Criteria for Participation in the Program 

You will need to decide how to admit students into your program. Will you accept all students? Or will you screen students to limit enrollment? One consideration is the size of your program based on resources. Another consideration is your estimate of student interest. 

a. Open Programs 

Some programs are “open programs” allowing students to participate by “registering” for the program and completing the curriculum. There are no specific screening criteria. 

• Example 1
• Example 2
• Example 3

b. Programs with an Application Process 

Some programs have an application process requiring students to meet specific requirements. Oftentimes, the application screens for motivation and commitment factors. 

II. Students with Disabilities 

Students with disabilities should not shy away from participating in the program.  Many students with disabilities attend law school and most go on to practice law.  The American Bar Association has resources for attorneys and law students with disabilities.

One of the first consideration for students with disabilities is requesting accommodations during the LSAT exam. LSAT scores are important factor in law school applications and as such, students should take the exam under their best conditions. During law school, students should also consider requesting accommodations to assure their best performance during school.  Students receiving accommodations for the LSAT and during law school have a better chance of receiving accommodations during the bar exam since they have documentation to support their request. 

III. Students with Prior Contact with the Law 

Students with prior contact with the law should also not shy away from participating in the program. Contact with law enforcement, including criminal convictions, do not necessarily disqualify a person from practicing in all states.  Students should check with the admissions requirements of law schools and the requirements of the bar admissions  for each state they are considering. Often the issue of an arrest or conviction would arise under “character and fitness” or “moral character”. 

Promoting the Program to Students

For your program to succeed, you will need strong interest from students on campus.  This section describes ways you can outreach and market to the student population to recruit motivated and qualified students to apply to the program, inspire them to remain engaged in the program, and encourage students to contribute back to the program after graduating. 

I. Messaging 

First, you should consider how you want to promote the program, specifically, the content of your marketing and messaging. You may want to highlight the benefits of the program like financial aid and academic counseling, mentorship from legal  professionals, legal internships, and networking opportunities. Your marketing will be more effective if you concentrate on exclusive and tangible benefits such as waivers for law school application fees and priority for important classes. You could also market the law schools that are supporting the program, which will impress upon the students that the program will increase their chances of being admitted into law school. Finally, there is tremendous value of providing testimonials from students who are currently in aw school, as well as recent alumni, regarding their decision to become an attorney after attending a community colleges.

II. Outreach 

Second, you should create an outreach plan so that information about the pre-law program reaches the target audience. Below are a couple of ways to make sure that interested and eligible students learn about the program. 

a. Classes 

Making presentations to law-related classes is an efficient and convenient way to market your pre-law program to students who are naturally inclined to apply to the program. These classes include “Business Law,” “Business Law and the Legal Environment,” “Introduction to Administration of Justice,” and “Concepts of Criminal Law.” You could speak to the class, circulate pamphlets, and/or email students. 

b. Student Organizations 

Another effective way to disseminate information about the program is through the use of student organizations on campus. For example, the East Los Angeles Community College has a Law Society Club and Bakersfield Community College has a Pre-Law Club. Through these organizations, you can speak to students and share information about the program. 

c. Social Media 

You should also consider marketing the program on social media. Today, a majority of teens find news from social media and YouTube. To reach these students, you could advertise about the pre-law program on TikTok, SnapChat, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

d. Events 

You could market the pre-law program by organizing an orientation event, such as an Annual Pathways to Law Summit/Conference. The summit would provide an opportunity for high school students or community college students to learn about the legal field and the pre-law project. It should include law practitioners, judges, and educators who can discuss the requirements to get accepted into law school, the law school experience, and careers in the legal field. 

III. Follow Through 

Lastly, you should follow up with the students whom you interact with through your marketing efforts. The subsequent conversation, email, or direct message may help you resolve concerns of the students, remind them of application deadlines, and increase their excitement for the program.

a. Multiple Contacts 

You should contact on multiple occasions a student who has shown initial interest in the pre-law program. In marketing, there exists a concept called the rule of seven, which says that a prospective buyer needs to hear or see the marketing message at least seven times before they will buy a product from you.  Similarly, the more times a student hears, sees, or reads about the pre-law program the more likely that student will commit to participating in the program.  You should consider contacting the student by telephone, text message, and email. 

b. Designated Liaison 

You can designate a liaison to prospective students so that there will be consistency in the interactions between the students and the program. The liaison will develop knowledge and history with his or her assigned students; and thus, the liaison will be better able to address the students’ concerns. 

c. Alumni Participation 

Consider having alumni of the program participate in the outreach. Alumni who have been accepted to law schools or are practicing attorneys will inspire students to believe that they too can become law students and attorneys. These alumni will be persuasive ambassadors of the benefits of the pre-law program.

Promoting the Program to the Public

In order to sustain and grow the program, you will need community support and funding from outside sources. Here are some ideas to consider. 

The excitement and enthusiasm for the concept will provide enough energy to start the program. But, from there, you will need to collect results in the form of assessment of student progress, data of student success, and other materials to document the success of the program. 

Testimonials:  

From student participants: Statements of success from students, professors, and members of the legal community are highly valued. Everyone wants to hear from students who participated in the program. We want to know what benefits they gained.  You should be able to show the value of each aspect of your program.  

From professors and administrators: People also like to hear the development of the students from the viewpoint of the professors and administrators. These people are the constant factor that can compare progress over time. Statements about students before the program was implemented and after the program was started are a good way to document the value of the program. These commenters can include educators from the four-year college and even law school. 

From the legal professionals: People like to hear from the experts in the field. In this case, these people would be lawyers and judges. Obviously, this will require that the program exist for a few years before your students make it through to this stage.  

Compiling Data: 

In addition to testimonials, accumulating data and generating reports will support the program. The data should not be limited to the goal of how many students graduated from law school and became attorneys. There are so many touch points along the path to document student successes, such as tangible indices of success, i.e,. grades, completion and graduation rates, admission to four-year colleges and law schools, and subsequent graduation from these schools.  

There are also intangible indices that are a little more challenging to measure, such as confidence, self-esteem, optimism in their future, acquisition of skills, like time management and stress management, study strategies, reading comprehension, public speaking, and comfort navigating a profession and networking.

Promotion:

All of the good news needs to be shared with your stakeholders, especially those outside of your college. While “no news is good news” works in some situations, “out of sight, out of mind” is more apt when it comes to your program. Your partners, both funders and volunteers, appreciate learning about your program. They want to know that they have made a difference in your students’ future education and career path. It is also important to project your program in a positive and forward-moving light. 

Be sure to share your successes with your stakeholders periodically. The successes highlighted in your messages will increase as your program grows. You might begin with email messages, then graduate to newsletters, and maybe celebrate in annual gatherings. Perhaps you can get your students involved in a project. They can share their accomplishments and take pride in noting positive reactions from stakeholders.