Need Access Application

What is the Need Access Application?

Need Access is an online data collection form, powered by the Access Group, Inc., that is required by a number of graduate/professional schools throughout the country as part of the financial aid application process. At HLS, the Need Access is used to provide us with a comprehensive picture of both your and your parents' financial circumstances and it serves as the base document utilized in our determination of your eligibility for HLS need-based grant assistance.

When can I apply and how does it work?

You can submit the Need Access Application any time after January 1, 2009 for the 2009-2010 application year. No code is necessary - just list Harvard Law School as a recipient of your data on the application. After you and your parents complete the entire form, your submission will be processed by The Access Group and generally made available electronically to HLS Student Financial Services within 48 hours. So, please allow 2-3 days for the Need Access Application documents to be changed to "received" on the "My Documents" tab of "My HLS Financial Aid" website.

The fee for submitting the Need Access is $28 for first time Need Access applicants and $15 for renewal Need Access applicants.

What are the various components of the Need Access Application?

The Need Access Application has three distinct sections: a Student Section, a Parent Section, and a Divorced/Separated Parent section. Each section can be password protected separately so that different parties can securely and confidentially enter their data.

The Student's section includes questions about the student, as well as about the student's spouse, prospective spouse and/or dependents if applicable.
The Parent section and the Divorced/Separated Parent section are identical and should be used in the following manner:
- If the students biological parents are married, they should enter their joint information together in the Parents' section.
- If the student's biological parents are separated or divorced, the main supporting parent (and stepparent, if applicable) should complete the Parents' section, and the other parent (and stepparent, if applicable) should complete the Divorced/Separated Parents' section.

The Access Group has provided a series of documents to assist you in understanding how to complete the Need Access Application: Guide: Need Access Student Section, Guide: Need Access Parent Section, and Guide: Need Access Divorced / Separated Parent Section.

How will I know if I need to complete the Need Access Application and if so, how do I determine if I am required to complete all sections or just some sections?

Whether or not you need to complete Need Access and whether or not you need to complete ALL sections of the application depends on a number of factors which include: your year in school at HLS (1L vs 2L/3L), your age (28 and younger vs. 29+), and the type of aid you are applying for (loan only vs. need-based grant). Here are the general rules that apply:

Entering 1Ls are ALWAYS required to do at least the student section of Need Access and must also complete the parent section(s) UNLESS they are applying loan only or are age 29 or above by September 1, 2009. (Generally, we do not recommend that 1Ls apply loan only unless they are pretty sure they will not qualify for need-based aid.)
Continuing 2Ls and 3Ls are NEVER required to do the student section of Need Access; however, they must do the parent section(s) UNLESS they are applying loan only or are age 29 or above by September 1, 2009.

The specifics of what we require from you will be determined by the answers you provide on our main online institutional aid form found within "My HLS Financial Aid". After you submit this form, you will be presented with your personalized document list. On this list you will see one or more of the following Need Access documents:

Need Access Student Data Section
Need Access Parent Data Section
Need Access Divorced/Separated Parent Data Section

You only need to complete data for corresponding Need Access Application sections being required on your personalized document list. If you do not see a section on your list, do not complete it. If you do not see Need Access on your list at all, then you do not need to complete it.

Is parent financial information really required on the Need Access Application?

YES! Harvard Law School requires parent information when determining your eligibility for our need-based grant assistance; therefore, you must complete all parent information sections of this form if it is your intention to be considered for need-based grant aid. The only exception to this is if you will reach age 29 by September 1, 2009. Any student age 29 or older by this date does not need to provide parent financial information. More information about this can be found in the section of our website which explains our policies on the consideration of parent resources.

Note for students with divorced/separated parents who have remarried

As instructed above, we require that both of your biological parents and step-parents complete the Need Access Application. HLS will not actually assess parent resources from your step-parents; however, we need to see the full financial picture of the new family unit in order to be able to accurately and fairly determine your eligibility for need-based aid. When we process your aid, our standard policy is to remove all income earned directly by the step-parent from his/her work and then divide other types of income (interest, capital gains, etc) in half. On the asset side, we always require parents and step-parents to provide data on all of their marital assets whether held jointly or individually. We then use 50% of total net worth in our calculation of your aid eligibility. HLS does not recognize pre-nuptial agreements or other similar agreements with respect to division of assets when determining aid eligibility. We determine aid eligibility in the manner described above for all students without exception.

Special Note for Prospective Students

You don't need to submit the Need Access before being admitted to HLS. But, if you do submit or have already submitted the Need Access, it is not a problem. As long as you indicated Harvard Law School on the Need Access, we will be able to post your data and mark the document as "received" within approximately 2 business days after we receive your information from the admissions office.