Law students seeking need-based financial assistance must meet the following eligibility requirements to be considered:
- Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- Have a valid social security number
- Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a regular student working toward a JD degree
- Sign a statement of educational purpose and a certification statement on overpayment and default (both found on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
- Register with the Selective Service, if required
- Maintain satisfactory academic progress
Dependency Status
Under current federal law, all law students are considered independent for purposes of qualifying for federal loan programs.
What can the loan funds be used for?
Student loans can be used only to fund specific educational expenses, including reasonable living expenses which are incurred while the student is enrolled in school. The student loan budget, sometimes called cost of attendance, includes tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and an allowance for personal incidental expenses. Loan funds can be used for these expenses only to the extent that they are not already covered by scholarship or support that you receive from your relatives.
The student loan budget is determined by the university's financial aid office, based on an estimate of your various educational expenses, as listed above. You are not able to receive student loan funds in excess of the student loan budget, regardless of the type of loan or the source of the specific loan funds. It must be noted that loan budget is not designed to replace income that a student may have been earning before entering law school. Also, it is not designed to fund discretionary purchases that a student incurs before or during law school (such as car payments or credit card payments, vacations, support of a spouse).