Participating Programs
Our program combines a rigorous seminar, practical skills training, and an immersive client-facing project to prepare the next generation of leaders. Based at Columbia University in New York City, CPRL is offered in the fall and spring semesters to graduate students at the following participating professional programs. If you're interested in our program but don't see your school listed here, please contact us at cprl@law.columbia.edu:
- Columbia Business School, Law, QMSS, SIPA, and Teachers College
- CUNY Law
- Dartmouth Tuck School of Business
- Duke Law
- Fordham Law
- Howard University Law
- University of Maryland Law
- Michigan Law
- NYU Law, Stern, Steinhardt, Wagner
- Penn Law
- Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
- Rice Jones Graduate School of Business
- Stanford Law
- UC Berkeley Law
- UC Irvine Law
- UCLA Law
- UNC Law
- USC Law
- Vanderbilt Peabody
- Yale School of Management
Our Application Process
Step 1: Attend an Info Session to learn more. See our schedule of Info Sessions here. You are not required to attend an information session to submit an application, although it is highly recommended to learn more details about this intensive program. Email us at cprl@law.columbia.edu if you're unable to attend any of the info session dates - our team will be in touch.
Step 2: Submit an Application*
*Note various partner schools have different applications and/or applicationdeadlines, please refer to the sections below to confirm your school's application and deadline.
Step 3: A select number of applicants will be invited for an interview with CPRL staff.
Step 4: CPRL will notify applicants with a decision in early December.
CPRL's full-semester program is offered each Fall (September - December) and Spring (January - early May).
CPRL is now accepting applications for the Spring 2024 and Fall 2024 semesters.
Unless otherwise specified below, please access CPRL's application here.
- Current CLS 1L students will apply to CPRL's Structural Change in Public Education Policy Lab using CPRL's application.
- Current CLS 2L or 3L students will apply to CPRL's Structural Change in Public Education Policy Lab using the Experiential Learning Common Application on LawNet.
For information about your school's deadline, please refer to the "Application Deadlines" section below.
As part of the application, you are asked to prepare four documents as PDFs:
- A resume or CV
- An unofficial graduate school transcript (if you are in your first semester, please submit the unofficial transcript showing your course list, without grades)
- A written response to the following prompt: In 500 words or less, please explain what attracts you to this course and what skills, experiences, interests, and aspirations you bring to it.
- A work sample and short description:
- Please submit an existing work product you created recently that best represents the skills and strengths you would bring to our program. This can be a project, report, presentation, memo, paper, lesson plan, or any other artifact that you believe best exemplifies your capabilities. We understand that many work products may contain confidential or proprietary information and will be redacted accordingly before submission.
- In 250 words or less, describe why you chose this work product, who the audience was, whether it was edited and/or includes contributions from anyone else (e.g., team members, advisors, etc.), and if so, the extent of their contribution, and any other relevant information for understanding your submission.
Scholar Awards provide financial support toward students’ home tuition during their participation in CPRL. To be eligible for a CPRL Scholar Award, students must make a legally enforceable commitment to work three of the first five years after graduation in a full-time government or non-profit position in or supporting the PK-12 public education sector.
The CPRL Scholar Award Application is optional.
Per our agreement with Vanderbilt Peabody, Peabody students do NOT need to complete an Academic Financial Aid Data Form to be considered for a CPRL Scholar Award.
If you are applying to participate in a semester later than Spring 2024, please note that you will be asked to reapply the semester before your anticipated semester of participation so that we can consider your most up-to-date financial aid package.
Our application is closed at this moment. Please fill out this interest form to receive a notification once the application is open.
Unless otherwise specified, all applications must be received by 5 PM ET on the day of the deadline.
Other graduate schools that are not listed below have not formalized a partnership with CPRL at this time. If you believe your school should be listed here, or if your graduate school is not currently a CPRL partner and you are interested in working with your school to join the CPRL, please email cprl@law.columbia.edu
Fall 2023 Cycle Deadlines
* CLS 1L students will apply to CPRL using our application. CLS 2Ls, 2Ls, and LLMs will apply to CPRL through the Experiential Learning Common Application on LawNet.
Still Have Questions?
Check out our FAQ page. You can also contact us at cprl@law.columbia.edu.