Here are a few of the most important news stories you need to know from the past week.
For the last decade, AALS has kept the legal academy and supporters informed with our weekly Legal Education News Digest and Blogs Digest. These digests track important developments in legal education, the legal profession, and higher education on the federal level. They also highlight new programs, collaborations between schools, milestones, faculty accomplishments, awards, clinical activities, and conferences/events. Sign up to receive these digests by email.
Law schools can share news and updates with the editors of the weekly digest here.
AALS Legal Education News Digest – Week Ending March 27, 2026
AALS Legal Education Blogs Digest – Week Ending March 27, 2026
Top stories from the past week include:
- Two law schools have announced that they are launching their own loan programs to help students fill funding gaps created by new caps on federal graduate student loans. The University of Kansas and Washington University in St. Louis will offer loans at a fixed interest rate with no credit checks in order to support students who might struggle with access to private loans. (Inside Higher Ed)
- Kansas lawmakers advanced a bill that would offer stipends and student loan repayment aid to law students who commit to working in rural parts of the state. The program hopes to fix access to justice gaps in rural areas by offering law students up to $3,000 per year in exchange for an equal number of years working in rural areas. The bill also established that rural attorneys could receive up to $100,000 in loan repayment over five years. (Yahoo! News)
- Other legal education stories:
- Law schools in Nebraska host legal clinics to provide free legal advice to entrepreneurs. (Silicon Prairie News)
- Law students from across the country participate in Jacksonville Area Legal Aid Pro Bono Unit to help with estate planning. (The Florida Bar)
- Jacob Rooksby named dean of University of Richmond Law. (University of Richmond Newsroom)
- Legal technology startup launches Legal AI Scholars Program at law schools. (Law.com)
Higher Education
- The National Institute of Health has only obligated about 15% of their research funds despite being halfway through the fiscal year. Higher education groups say the change could be due to government shutdown, staffing shortages, and other administrative delays. (Inside Higher Ed)
- New regulations from the Trump administration will restrict campus-based voter engagement by barring colleges from using Federal Work Study funds for voter registration efforts and warning colleges against distributing registration forms. This has caused concern for Democrats who say the administration is attempting to suppress young voters by restricting access to registration. (Politico)
Law School Programs, Clinics and Milestones
- Brooklyn Law Sports Law Clinic provides free legal assistance for college athletes. (Business of College Sports)
- New UC Berkeley Law Center for Indigenous Law & Justice partnership aims to help reporters understand tribal law. (UC Berkeley Law)
- Case Western Reserve Law students participate in coding competition to create legal technology solutions. (Bloomberg Law News)
- Lewis & Clark Law Small Business Legal Clinic launches partnership with Nike. (Lewis & Clark Law School)