PENN STATE DICKINSON LAW DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS AND FINANCIAL AID REBECCA SCHREIBER NAMED AALS FINANCIAL AID CHANGE-MAKER
January 2025 — Penn State Dickinson Law Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Rebecca Schreiber has been recognized as the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Financial Aid Change-Maker of 2025.
The award honors individuals or teams who create structural and systemic change in financial aid innovation or delivery to increase access to legal education and diversify the legal profession. Penn State Dickinson Law Associate Dean for Admissions & Financial Aid Bekah Saidman-Krauss nominated Schreiber for the award, which is being given for the first time.
“I am honored to have been recognized as the AALS Pre-Law Education and Admissions to Law School (PEALS) inaugural Financial Aid Change-Maker,” said Schreiber. “Throughout my career in financial aid, I have aimed to find novel and meaningful ways to support students who have historically experienced barriers to accessing higher education based on marginalized aspects of their identity. I am deeply grateful to both my nominator and to the committee for understanding and supporting my commitment to this crucial work.”
“This award is designed to recognize an individual who has created structural and systemic changes in financial aid innovation or delivery in an effort to increase access to legal education and diversify the legal profession. This is the work that Rebecca does every day,” said Saidman-Krauss. “Under Penn State Dickinson Law Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law Danielle M. Conway’s leadership, all of us at Penn State Dickinson Law are trying to advance access and equity and endeavoring to diversify the legal profession through our work.
“Rebecca has made meaningful, tangible strides to increase access in the realm of financial aid by enhancing existing processes — like expanding the possibility of applying for need-based grant aid to all students (even those who cannot file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid) — and developing new frameworks. Frankly, Rebecca has made such an impact in financial aid administration that some of her efforts have been shared with other units at the university as a model.”
Prioritizing underrepresented populations pursuing legal education
The Financial Change-Maker award recognizes those who “demonstrate through educational and professional programming, resource allocation, and solutions that directly address financial challenges, a commitment to serving underrepresented populations in the pursuit of legal education.” Schreiber, who recently earned her Master of Education from Penn State University, has shown that commitment throughout her career.
She entered higher education in 2014, first serving as a financial aid counselor and then as assistant director of financial aid at Dickinson College. She quickly discovered she had a passion for engaging with access and affordability issues facing higher education.
A magna cum laude graduate of the College of Wooster in Ohio with a bachelor’s in psychology, Schreiber came to Dickinson Law in 2018. Among her many accomplishments, Schreiber co-authored “Building an Antiracist Law School: Inclusivity in Admissions and Retention of Diverse Students — Leadership Determines DEI Success” with Conway and Saidman-Krauss. She recently co-authored a report titled “The Financial Well-Being of Parents Pursuing Postsecondary Education” for SPARK Collaborative.
She also is a multi-chapter contributor to “Building an Antiracist Law School, Legal Academy, and Legal Profession,” a book series shepherded by Penn State Dickinson Law’s Antiracist Development Institute (ADI), which will be published by ADI partner University of California Press.
She has conducted many law school application workshops for prospective students as well as presented at the Pennsylvania Association for Student Financial Aid Administrator Conference and Law School Admission Council (LSAC) annual meetings and served as a financial aid expert at LSAC forums.
“Rebecca is more than just an effective administrator; current and former students praise her efforts to educate and advocate for them. She’s truly exceptional, and she is so deserving of this honor,” said Saidman-Krauss.