Maurer School of Law and Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Proactively moving to increase a traditionally underrepresented population among the nation’s law schools, the Indiana University Maurer School of Law and the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund have entered a memorandum of understanding to offer a scholarship and mentorship program to some of the top Asian American and Pacific Islander students in the country.

The program will offer former undergraduate APIASF scholarship winners admitted to the Maurer School of Law scholarships amounting to approximately 50 percent of annual tuition, along with access to a formal mentoring program. The scholarship will reduce the cost of law school tuition over three years by $45,000 to $75,000, depending on the student’s residency and other factors.

“The Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund has done tremendous work, providing opportunities to help students go to college,” said Austen Parrish, Maurer School of Law dean and James H. Rudy Professor of Law. "They’ve been particularly effective at helping underrepresented and underserved groups. We’re so pleased to be partnering with an organization that has had such an impact, and who have long understood the importance of higher education."

Parrish said the Asian and Pacific Islander population is one of the fastest-growing populations in the United States and the Midwest, and many Southeast Asian groups remain underrepresented in legal education.

“APIASF is pleased to have the opportunity to partner with the Indiana University Maurer School of Law to provide scholarships for promising Asian American and Pacific Islanders interested in pursuing a career in law,” said Neil Horikoshi, APIASF president and executive director. “We appreciate and acknowledge Dean Parrish’s efforts to encourage and include these students in an important initiative. Too often, they are overlooked and left out of the conversation. This partnership will support students in their efforts to access higher education, persist and succeed in college and beyond.”

This partnership is part of a broader commitment by the law school to attract broad-based diversity. Earlier this year, the law school partnered with some of the nation’s most prestigious women’s colleges and announced a partnership with IU’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs. On Feb. 21, the law school will host its annual Minority Law Day, attracting minority high school and undergraduate students from across the Midwest and introducing them to the legal education options available. Each year, Maurer School of Law students are selected to participate in the Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity Fellowship program, and the law school participates as a partner on the Council on Legal Education Opportunity’s Consortium on Diversity in Legal Education.

“This partnership is designed to create additional opportunities for deserving Asian American and Pacific Islander students who are interested in a legal education,” said Frank Motley, assistant dean of admissions at the law school. “The legal community and corporate America need law graduates who are made up of the best and widest range of talent. To meet these demands of the profession, the law school must continue to attract a vibrant and diverse community of students to produce the next generation of society’s leaders. This partnership is one small way to ensure that those needs are met.”

The Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund is the largest provider of college scholarships for Asian American and Pacific Islander students in the country. It has become a national voice for students by partnering with the National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education to provide disaggregated data and by hosting the annual Higher Education Summit to ensure that Asian American and Pacific Islander students are represented in America's national education agenda.

As one of oldest law schools in the country and Indiana’s top-ranked public law school, the IU Maurer School of Law has a history of developing deep relationships with other prestigious institutions in higher education, both in the United States and abroad.