Raising awareness through academic research.
The Consumer Advocacy Institute believes the most durable form of consumer protection begins in the academy. Peer-reviewed scholarship — careful, defensible, and public — is what turns isolated complaints into policy, regulation, and lasting change.
So we fund the people doing that work. Each year, CAI awards fellowships directly to graduate students and faculty whose research documents unfair or deceptive practices in consumer markets.
We fund the research
Direct, unrestricted grants to the scholar — not the institution — so the work can move without bureaucratic delay.
We help frame the questions
CAI's litigation and compliance experience helps researchers focus on the practices that are most actionable — and most harmful.
We carry the findings forward
Published work becomes evidence in enforcement actions, expert testimony, and public-comment dockets — multiplying its reach.
CAI Consumer Protection Research Fellowship
A $10,000 unrestricted grant supporting a paper focused on unfair or deceptive practices in consumer markets. Open to current graduate students and faculty at any accredited institution.
- Eligibility. Graduate students (Master's, PhD, JD) or current faculty at an accredited college or university.
- Subject. Original research examining unfair or deceptive practices — labeling, pricing, fees, claims, safety, advertising, contract terms, or related.
- Terms. Unrestricted use of funds. CAI retains no rights in the work; you keep authorship and the right to publish anywhere.
- Timeline. Rolling review. Decisions within 6 weeks of a complete application.