This article attempts to bridge a perceived gap between legal education and education theory as well as the gap between academic counseling and independent learning by examining law school academic support programs. The article argues that a multidisciplinary analysis provides a helpful basis for evaluating academic support programs that address the problems of high risk and probationary college and law students. Part I introduces the problem by juxtaposing the ways in which law schools currently deal with high risk and probationary students with the ways in which many colleges and universities began dealing with such students regarding academic counseling programs at the undergraduate level and suggests that this research has direct applicability in the law school setting. Part III attempts to integrate academic counseling theory and independent learning theory. This section argues that academically troubled students frequently develop significant dependency relationships with their counselors. The dependency relationships help explain both the short term success of many academic counseling programs and the almost complete long term failure. Part IV suggests that several techniques of law school classroom teaching can help high risk and probationary students learn both substantive material and independent learning skills (JB)