Introduction

There are various types of financial aid to finance a legal education, as depicted below.

If you need further information after you review this site, please do not hesitate to contact us for assistance.

Columbia Law School awards grant assistance primarily on the basis of demonstrated financial need and annually provides need-based funds toward reducing tuition costs for students. Each year, a portion of the entering class receives a Law School grant, which is in the form of a partial tuition waiver.

There are a number of fellowships that are not based on financial need; these are awarded by the Office of JD Admissions at the time an applicant is admitted to the Law School. In general, there is no separate application for these fellowships.

Eligible students may borrow from a variety of loan programs to finance a part, or all, of their educational expenses. We urge you to be as prudent as possible in the amount of debt you assume. Some students are able to limit their annual borrowing to the $20,500 that the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan Program currently makes available to eligible U.S. citizens and eligible noncitizens. However, individuals may also need to borrow from credit-based educational loan programs to meet the student budget. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that loan providers require borrowers to be credit-worthy before approving a loan.

For loan borrowing, we advise all students to review carefully the section on Credit, and to obtain a copy of your credit report. Please keep in mind that Law School funds will not be available to replace unavailable credit-based loans.

This publication is intended for the guidance of Columbia students and faculty. It sets forth in general the manner in which the University intends to proceed with respect to the matters set forth herein, but the University reserves the right to depart without notice from the terms of this publication. This publication is not intended to be, and should not be, regarded as a contract.