The is around $60,000 for private institutions and $30,000 for public institutions. This does not account for the actual cost of attendance, which will include fees, books and materials, housing, food, and transportation, among other expenses. The total cost of attending law school can surpass $200,000 over the course of a 3-year program. Thus, aspiring law students should plan ahead, considering what level of cost you are able to bear and what sources of financial assistance are available to you.
Financial aid for law school can include scholarships and grants (which do not have to be repaid) as well as loans (which must be repaid with interest), and the school’s posted total cost of attendance will serve as the upper limit for financial aid. Law schools themselves offer scholarships and grants, as do some external organizations. Loans can come from the federal government or from private banks. Read below for more details on each category of financial aid, and consult the for additional guidance.
Costs
Pre-law students should be aware of the various costs throughout the process of applying to, choosing between, and attending law schools and should plan accordingly.
Application Costs
Prospective law students will encounter costs before they even commit to a law school. These include the following:
- LSAT registration and preparation program fees
- Credential Assembly Service (CAS) subscription
- CAS report fees
- Application fees
- School visits
- Seat deposits to hold your spot post-acceptance
for eligible applicants, and many law schools will waive application fees. Applicants should inquire about opportunities for fee waivers.
Cost of Attendance
The costs of getting to and attending law school include the following:
- Tuition and fees
- Moving costs
- Rent and deposits
- Books (which are usually purchased before financial aid processes)
- Food, transit, supplies
Sources of Funding
Financial aid for law students generally takes one of the following forms.
Internal Scholarships
Admitted students should always contact the financial aid office at their law school to inquire about potential sources of funding. Law schools will offer some combination of merit- and need-based aid. Offers of merit-based aid will generally be determined by the applicant's LSAT score and GPA. indicate the grants that schools offer to applicants at various percentiles. Need-based grants will be determined using the FAFSA. Scholarships may be guaranteed to students or they may be conditional on performance, usually determined by GPA or class rank.
If you are not satisfied with a scholarship offer that you have received from a school you would like to attend, you may ask the school to reconsider your offer. Some schools will have a standard process for aid reconsideration, including forms that are sent to accepted applicants. For others, applicants may need to contact the school to inquire. Some schools may state flatly that they do not reconsider offers. If you do ask a school to reconsider your scholarship offer, try to bring something new that was not present in your initial application. This might include a GPA increase (if you received grades from a quarter after you submitted your application), a new LSAT score, or an acceptance letter from a comparable institution with a superior scholarship offer.
External Scholarships
Several organizations offer partial scholarships that law students can piece together to help cover the cost of attendance. Again, students should check with the financial aid office at the law school they plan to attend to inquire about potential sources of funding. We also suggest looking through these databases:
Additionally, several competitive, merit-based fellowships offer funding that can be applied to law school. Visit the Office of Student Fellowships website for more information.
Federal Loans
The United States government offers higher education loans based on need, as demonstrated in the . Federal loans have several advantages over private loans: no credit checks, fixed interest rates that are not credit-based, income-driven repayment plans, eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), deferment and forbearance options, and no requirement for cosigners.
The federal loan landscape was changed by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025. That legislation did two things that matter to new law school borrowers. First, it began a phaseout of the Graduate PLUS Loans that enabled students to borrow additional funds beyond other aid, up to the total cost of attendance. Second, it increased the cap on Direct Unsubsidized Loans for “professional” programs (such as medicine and law) to $50,000 per year and $200,000 lifetime.
Therefore, depending on the cost of attendance of the particular law school, new law students will likely have a difficult time covering their costs with federal loans alone. They will likely need scholarships or private loans to avoid paying out of pocket while enrolled.
Private Loans
While some students may need private loans to help cover the cost of attending law school, potential borrowers should keep in mind that private loans differ significantly from federal aid and can end up being quite costly in the long run. Unlike federal loans, loans from private banks are fully credit-based (with interest rate offers tied to credit scores), have little flexibility when it comes to repayment and few protections for borrowers who encounter financial hardship, are not eligible for PSLF, and often require cosigners.
Therefore, if you are considering private loans to cover funding gaps, be sure to do your best to establish a solid credit score ahead of time, shop around for the best rates and repayment plans, and avoid taking out private loans for more than what is absolutely necessary.
Resources
From the Law School Admission Council (LSAC)
LSAC provides a variety of resources and tools that help prospective law students understand their financial future.
- : comprehensive, regularly updated information on policy changes
- : free courses including “How Do I Pay for Law School?” and webinars about financial aid
- : tools that enable you to compare schools side by side by tuition, earnings, job placement, scholarships, and more
- : links to law school financial aid offices and resources
Other Helpful Resources
- : free financial literacy courses, budget planning tools, and private scholarship opportunities
- : official information on federal loans, repayment plans, and FAFSA
- : Required disclosures on costs, employment outcomes, and bar passage for every ABA-approved law school
- : detailed updates on federal student aid policy changes
- : analysis and resources on student aid policy