Financial Aid Office - Scholarships
Scholarships
Thurgood Marshall School of Law encourages students to explore and apply for all applicable scholarships. The Office of Admissions and Financial Aid make every effort to inform students of scholarships administered by Thurgood Marshall School of Law and external scholarships as they become available.
We suggest that you apply for any and all external scholarships if you meet the eligibility requirements; receiving an external scholarship could reduce your alternative loan borrowing. Remember, the less you borrow, the less you'll have to repay.
Merit Scholarships
The law school awards merit scholarships to selected members of all three classes, 1L, 2L, and 3L. Renewal of 1L and 2L scholarships is dependent upon the recipient achieving a specific class standing – completion of the academic year with a grade point average in the top ten percent of the cumulative grade point averages for the recipient’s respective class. Hence the Thurgood Marshall merit scholarship program consists entirely of “conditional scholarships” as defined in the American Bar Association Accreditation Standard 509, Interpretation 509-3. We report the number of “entering 1L merit scholarships that are not renewed under our ABA required consumer information report. With respect to the renewal of our 2L merit scholarships; all of them are subject to reduction because the 2L scholarships are full tuition scholarships, while the 3L scholarships are half tuition scholarships. Approximately six of every ten 2L students who received full tuition scholarships in the last three years, 2012-13, 2013-14, and 2014-15, also received a half tuition scholarship in their 3L year.
Please note that the law school’s scholarship program described above is subject to fund availability and review each academic year. Any modifications in the program resulting from the review will be posted, and a written notice sent to any affected student.
Scholarship Retention Data
Students Matriculating in |
# Entering with |
# Whose Conditional Scholarships Have Since Been Reduced or Eliminated |
2015 - 2016 |
114 |
89 |
2014 - 2015 |
36 |
27 |
2013 - 2014 |
38 |
28 |
External Scholarships
We encourage you to look outside of the law school for scholarship opportunities. The following is a list of on-line search engines that you may use to begin your search (the search engines are free).
Message from Acting Dean Bledsoe
Financial Aid