Top Law Schools

Do outside scholarships affect (reduce) merit awards that are given by schools?

For example, if you receive full tuition from your law school and win a third party scholarship to cover the cost of living, will that scholarship replace some of the grant in your full tuition scholarship?

Just wondering because my undergrad institution replaced grant aid with scholarship funds which disincentivized getting outside financial help. I also know it’s pretty typical for organizations to send funds directly to the school rather than the recipient.

I haven’t seen anything on this and I’ve been curious as I’m getting ready to look into outside scholarships.

No. I could imagine an outside scholarship having an effect on need-based scholarships from a school, but they won't affect a merit-based scholarship. The school doesn't care how you pay for expenses that aren't covered by a scholarship.

That said, you might want to confirm that the outside scholarship will cover cost of living. Your school's merit scholarship is usually directly applied to your tuition. So if you have your tuition fully covered, it would make very little sense for the outside organization to send money to the school.