As you have already discovered, the cost of obtaining a legal education is a critical element to consider in planning where you will attend law school. The amount of your post-graduation debt load can have a direct impact on your ability to maximize future employment opportunities, i.e., the freedom you will have to choose the type of practice you will pursue as well as the geographical area of the country or the world where you work. Speaking quite candidly, the debt load you shoulder once you leave law school can dramatically affect the quality of life you have as you begin your career as a practicing lawyer.
A recent study by Equal Justice Works indicated that the average amount borrowed in law school by the class of 2005 was $78,763 at a private law school and $51,056 at a public law school. The same study indicated that the average annual cost for attending law school was $24,199 for a resident at a public school, $34,041 for a non-resident at a public school and $39,954 at a private law school.
We are grateful to the Board of Trustees of the University for generously subsidizing the cost of educating each law student. Notwithstanding this tuition subsidy, students who have demonstrated truly superior undergraduate academic performance are generously awarded significant scholarship assistance, both from general scholarship funds of the university and from special scholarship fund donations to the Law School.
Incoming first-year law student scholarships are merit-based awards. In order to be eligible for scholarship consideration an applicant must have a minimum 236 index as noted on the LSAC Law School Admissions Report. Limited full tuition scholarships are available and other awards are graduated based on the LSAC index. Awards are renewable in the second and third years based on academic performance. In order to maintain the full amount of the scholarship awarded a student is required to perform in the top one third of the class after the first year. Students who perform in the middle third of the class will retain ˝ the scholarship award, while those who perform in the lower 1/3 will have their scholarships discontinued. No further adjustments are made in the second and third years. Students who do not initially receive scholarships are considered for scholarship awards if superior performance is demonstrated in the first year.
There are many loan products available to assist you in financing your legal education. It is usually very helpful to speak with a financial aid counselor who can help you understand what is available and the positives and negatives of each loan source. In order to provide our students with the best financial aid advice possible, the Law School has worked with the University’s Financial Aid Office to designate a financial aid counselor who is dedicated to helping law students with their financial aid processing. Doug Young, one of the most experienced financial aid counselors on campus, has been designated as the counselor who will assist you process your financial aid requests. Doug has worked with law students for years to assist in financing their legal education. Please make it a point to contact Doug for any of your financial aid questions. He can be reached at (801) 378-4104.
The Federal Stafford Loan Program enables students to borrow from a bank participating in the program. Availability of funds through these sources depends on state and federal legislation and regulation as well as independent participation in the programs by individual banks. For more information on Stafford Loans, you may want to visit: http://studentaid.ed.gov/
Through the generosity of Roland Rich Woolley, a noted Los Angeles attorney, his wife, Alice Spry Woolley, and his daughter, Mary Alice Woolley, the Law School is able to provide a private source of loan funds for law students. Woolley Family Law Student Loans are available to full-time law students in amounts up to $7,000 per year ($9,000 per year for first year students to accommodate a laptop purchase). This is a subsidized loan with repayment of the loan beginning nine months after discontinuance of full-time student status.
