Grants for Law Students
Many law school students require financial aid and other forms of free money to assist them through their degree programs. Grants from government programs, private and public sources are available to help low income and minority students graduate into law-focused careers. Law students searching for grant money to lighten the burden of college expenses should consider applying for college grants offered by law schools, professional law associations and organizations.

Law School Grant Sources

In addition to government grants and financial aid, seek advice from the law school you are interested in enrolling with. Their financial aid advisors will be able to provide you with information about grants for law students available through the actual school. Most law schools offer grant programs and students who receive the Pell grant are given priority for these grants over other students who have more means to pay for their laws school education.

Two of the leading law education establishment that offer grant programs to eligible students include:

  • The Columbia School of Law – As one of the U.S. leading law schools, they regularly provide students are enrolled on a fulltime law degree program and meet financial need requirements with rather generous grants. You can request further information by contacting their financial aid department.
  • The Washington College of Law awards need-based grants to full-time students pursuing their Juris Doctor (JD) degree. The deadline for this application is March 1st and awards are assessed on the students financial need according to the information submitted on a Need Access application.

Minority and Women Focused Law School Grants

Traditionally mostly white males have enrolled on to law degree programs, but recent years have seen an increase in grant and scholarship programs that focus on increasing the numbers of women and students from less represented minority backgrounds as a means to diversify student enrolments and make law school equally accessible to everybody. As a result, more Hispanics and Latinos, African Americans and Native Americans can access minority grants to fund law degree programs.

Cornell University and the University of Michigan are two leading law schools that greatly support minority students. The following notable organizations are worth researching for minority grants in addition to federal financial aid:

  • All students including women and those from all ethnic minority groups, can apply for reasonably sized grants through the American Bar Association.
  • Hispanic and Latino students enrolled in an ABA affiliated law school studying towards a JD degree can access grant funds from the Puerto Rican Legal Defence and Education Fund.

Applying for Grants

In most cases, students who wish to apply for law school grants will have to demonstrate a need for financial assistance. This is because most of the college grant programs for law students are need-based unlike scholarships, which are predominantly merit-based. Students who require grant money for each year of academic study will usually have to reapply every year. The same goes for undergraduate law students who receive grants and financial aid through the FAFSA.