Financial Aid
As educational costs continue to escalate, we realize that financing law school is an expensive endeavor. It is important to plan ahead and explore the various resources and financial aid opportunities outlined in this website to assist you in attaining your goal of a legal education. The University of San Diego School of Law is committed to assisting financially-eligible students pursue a legal education by providing a comprehensive financial aid program. Financial aid awarded to School of Law students consists of more than 370 merit, need-based and/or diversity scholarships; federal sources, such as work-study programs; the Perkins and Stafford Loan Programs; Graduate PLUS loans and institutional loans. Private loan programs are also available to assist law students with supplemental financing for legal education expenses.
During the 2006-2007 academic year, approximately 82% of USD law students received some form of financial aid. Admission decisions are made independent of financial aid decisions. In order to prevent students from missing deadlines, it is recommended that students apply for financial aid before they are notified of their admission to the University of San Diego School of Law.
Entering students are automatically considered for need-based as well as merit-based scholarships. Need is calculated by subtracting the applicant's available resources, including those of his or her spouse, from a standard budget that includes estimates of all costs associated with completing one year of law study. The policy of USD is to focus scholarship assistance on students with outstanding academic merit or promise and/or the greatest financial aid need. The majority of law students receive financial aid support in the form of loans.
Recognizing that our graduates have increasingly high educational debt burdens, USD recently established a Loan Repayment Assistance Program in order to preserve freedom of career choice in public service jobs that typically have low salaries.
Financial aid awards are communicated in the form of a written offer of assistance to admitted students beginning in mid-March. Typical awards contain a combination of funding, including loans, scholarships, and/or work study.
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