If you’re looking to attend law school in the near future, you’ll know that the cost of attendance isn’t exactly light. Many law students incur some form of debt throughout the years. However, there are several ways to cover tuition, such as merit scholarships, which are offered by several law schools, including New York University Law School, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Duke University Law School, and University of Chicago Law School.
It’s important to know the difference between merit scholarships and need-based scholarships. Many institutions will offer merit-based scholarships to excelling students who primarily have undergraduate GPAs or LSAT scores that exceed their medians. These two data points are key factors in the U.S. News Rankings, so law schools will entice strong applicants with generous financial incentives who, for instance, might be looking to attend a more prestigious school that may not offer merit scholarships.
While schools will automatically consider an applicant for merit-based scholarships when they apply, it’s good to know that many law schools will reserve these scholarships for 2L and 3L students. In this case, law schools will offer these scholarships to current students when they have achieved academic excellence in their first year, so don’t be discouraged if you weren’t offered extra money to attend, because there still could be an opportunity depending on your first-year performance.
Need-based aid is primarily based on an applicants’ financial need. Similarly to applying to financial aid for undergraduate institutions, you will need to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and a law school financial aid assessment forms. Traditionally, prestigious law schools provide the most generous need-based aid because of their large endowments.
To read more about methods to pay back law school debt, make sure to check out our Law School Pathways Guide, which will discuss merit scholarships in further detail.