Admission to many of the top undergraduate colleges in the U.S. is need-blind.
Is this true at the law schools for these same universities? E.g., at the T14 and similar law schools, their undergrad programs are need blind. But looking quickly at some of their law school financial aid sections, I do not see a reference to need-blind admissions. Are they need-blind or need-aware?
This doesn’t address your question specifically but it is also my understanding that most students finance law school through loans and that there are very few t14 schools who give significant grants or scholarships for any reason other than merit (specifically some combo of LSAT and GPA). So is the need-aware vs need-blind distinction relevant for admissions when need is unlikely to be met anyway unless the applicant qualifies for some academically-based scholarship? I honestly don’t know… On the other hand, I have been told anecdotally that Yale, Stanford and Harvard, who are at the top of the t14, don’t “do” merit, so maybe there is a larger need-based component at those three schools?
Law schools are definitely need-blind. With the exception of HYS, they don’t offer much if any need-based aid. HYS is need-only, no merit. LS just expect you to max out loans or have family money to attend.
Look at it this way, grad/professional schools expect you to be full time students, so you will generally have zero income while you are in school. In that sense, everyone has need and there is no reason to ask about it on the application.
FA is pretty lousy at most law schools fyi. Debt is the most common way of funding law school – a lot of debt. The assumption is that you will get a “good paying job” at the other side to pay off the loans. Reality is that outside of the t14 it’s harder to get jobs in law much less ones that will pay for those loans. You have to be in teh very top of your class to get jobs that require law degrees.
For stats on employment, the law school is required to supply a link on their website. Look for it.
For students graduating with the intention of going into public interest or government work, some of the top schools offer tuition pay-back assistance. You may want to check out those plans, if you intend to go into these areas of law.
Public service loan forgiveness is not a sure thing even though one complies with the 10 year service requirement.
Law schools operate primarily on merit scholarship grants usually based on one’s LSAT score and undergraduate GPA. The three highest ranked law schools (Harvard, Stanford & Yale) do not, to the best of my knowledge, offer merit awards. Columbia & Chicago do offer substantial merit scholarships (in what many believe is an attempt to lure away admits or likely admits to one of the top 3 law schools).
@Publisher: Can’t stress this one enough. PSLF currently has a [url=<a href=“https://www.law.com/2018/10/11/experts-to-law-grads-dont-freak-out-about-public-service-loan-forgiveness-yet/%5D99%%5B/url”>https://www.law.com/2018/10/11/experts-to-law-grads-dont-freak-out-about-public-service-loan-forgiveness-yet/]99%[/url] rejection rate.
Yes PSLF has a large rejection rate and that’s good to note but some law schools offer their own PI loan forgiveness programs.
@Dustyfeathers: Yes, a few do. Has anyone investigated IRS treatment of those? PSLF had a built in exception for cancellation of debt income. I don’t know if there’s an equivalent for school-sponsored forgiveness.