Law School Scholarships
It’s not a secret that law school, like other professional degree programs, can be expensive. Every year, law school students collectively take on millions of dollars in tuition debt. That’s not counting other expenses for room and board, books, fees, travel, food and personal expenses each student spends each year. Like grants and loans, scholarships are available for law school students. In fact, there are numerous scholarships and funds set up specifically for law students. Unfortunately, not all prospective attorneys take advantage of these resources, mainly because they’ve never heard of them.
Each year, the amount of scholarships and the amount of dollars awarded changes. We’ve provided you with a few different websites that are designed and regularly updated with this year’s upcoming scholarships that are available nationwide.
Another great resource for law students who are seeking to learn more about possible scholarships is their school or university. In most cases the student can look up this information online, through the school’s website.
For a list of all law school websites, click here.
Types of Law School Scholarships
There are three main types of scholarships; need-based scholarships, merit-based scholarships, and criteria-based scholarships. Depending on certain personal factors, you may or may not be qualified to receive a specific scholarship. Personal factors that may or may not influence your candidacy are:
- Ethnicity or Race
- Gender
- Political affiliation
- Religious affiliation
- Military/Law Enforcement
- GLBT
- Disabled
- Legal Practice Area (such as international law)
- Sports
- Academics
Need-based scholarships are awarded by law schools to students who are in need of financial assistance. Students who are applying for this type of scholarship have to fill out two forms; the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and a law school authorized financial aid assessment form. It is up to the school to determine whether or not a student is in need of financial aid. The most popular schools to offer need-based scholarships are older law schools and prestigious law schools.
Merit-based scholarships are also given by law schools to students who display excellent academic achievements, grades and scores. Most students who receive this type of scholarship are first year students. However, many law schools set aside money specifically for second and third-year law students for various reasons such as, ‘buying’ a student to prevent them from transferring to a higher ranked law school or achieving academic excellence.
Criteria-based scholarships are given by law schools to students who meet certain criteria. For example, scholarships are awarded to student’s who intend to study a certain kind of law, usually by an outside organization or alumnus that is in the same field. Another example is a law school that is part of a bigger university (e.g. Northwestern University School of Law) may receive endowment money specifically to fund scholarships for university undergraduates who are considering attending its law school for graduate school.
