Top Law Schools

I'm wondering if anyone has any information (anecdotal or data) about the amount of need-based scholarship (not loans) top schools offer.

Most top schools do give out some need-based awards, but how often is that a significant amount? I know it'll depend on the information we provide, but just wondering if they actually award large sums (comparable to some of their merit awards).

I've tried to find this out, but couldn't find much. It seems like most schools with the exception of HYS and Columbia (there may be others) use some combination of merit and need-based when granting need-based scholarships. So if you just barely got in, you may not get any need-based aid, even if you have considerable need. Whereas if you were at a schools 75th percentile, you may get a need-based grant on top of a merit-based scholarship. I hope for my sake I'm wrong, however from my initial research this seems to be the case. Maybe actual law students with more insight can chime in.

With the exception of Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, law schools do not really offer need-based scholarships. Claims to the contrary are simply marketing gimmicks, since at all other law schools where significant numbers of students are paying the advertised sticker price, some of those students have no financial resources to speak of.

Budfox55 wrote:I've tried to find this out, but couldn't find much. It seems like most schools with the exception of HYS and Columbia (there may be others) use some combination of merit and need-based when granting need-based scholarships. So if you just barely got in, you may not get any need-based aid, even if you have considerable need. Whereas if you were at a schools 75th percentile, you may get a need-based grant on top of a merit-based scholarship. I hope for my sake I'm wrong, however from my initial research this seems to be the case. Maybe actual law students with more insight can chime in.

100% right and 100% the marketing gimmick that Prof. Campos was talking about.

I've seen people receive small need-based offers from Fordham above and beyond their merit-based offer. However, for the person I know, the combined merit and need-based aid amounted only to about the same total offer as from peer schools who gave only merit aid.

I spoke with the financial aid office at Penn State Law, and they said that need-based grants are much smaller than some of the merit-based scholarships. The LARGEST need-based grant that they give out is for $5000, FYI.