Student Financial Aid Budget

All financial aid is awarded using the standard student budget established each year by a Financial Aid Committee made up of HLS faculty, students and administrators. Although this standard budget does not allow for a luxurious lifestyle, it fairly represents average costs for most students. The Financial Aid Committee carefully reviews Bureau of Labor Statistics in conjunction with local area rental rates and student-reported expenses each year to arrive at a reasonable budget that allows for a moderate standard of living for all students. We encourage you to carefully review the standard student budget provided below in order to plan accordingly for your expenses.

2009-2010 Standard Student Budget (9-Month)

Personal Living Expenses

* Students are given a nine-month room, board and personal expense living allowance of $18,457. This living allowance is divided by nine months to yield a monthly allowance of $2,050. We intentionally do not provide our interpretation of how this amount of money should be broken down across any number of expense categories. This is a highly personal decision; therefore, we leave it to you to allocate this allowance among your living expenses based on your particular needs and wants. The only thing that matters from our perspective is that you use the $18,457 as your bottom line and that you live within this guideline.

Married Students and Students with Dependents

Harvard Law School does not have a separate budget for married students or for single students with dependants. The same standard budget is used for all students. However, married students and students with dependents are afforded higher living allowances against income in the calculation of their student contribution from income. For more detailed information see the section Married Students and Students with Dependents.

Budget Increases

In extreme circumstances, students occasionally incur expenses during the year that may be legitimate reasons to warrant an increase in our standard budget listed above. Examples of allowable budget increases include higher travel expenses due to unforeseen family emergencies and un-reimbursed medical expenses. In order to request a budget increase, you need to submit our Appeal/Change of Status web form found on the Financial AId Forms section of our website.

Whenever possible, you should also provide original receipts of your additional expenses directly to our office. Generally, should a budget increase be allowed, the increase would be met in the form of additional supplemental education loan assistance. 

Computer Purchases

Student budgets may also be increased for the purchase of a computer. The maximum computer budget increase allowed is $3,000. Students may receive only one computer advance during their three years at Harvard Law School. The increase may include the cost of all approved hardware and software needed, as described in the Computer Reimbursement/Cash Advance page. This budget increase will be met with Federal (the maximum is $20,500 in Stafford Loans) or supplemental education loan borrowing. We do not offer HLS need-based grant assistance to cover computer expenses. Instructions on the Computer Reimbursement/Cash Advance process are in the Computer Reimbursement/Cash Advance section of the website.

Consumer Debt

While in school, students should use credit cards as minimally as possible. A credit card can be more convenient than using cash, but be wary of using credit cards unless you can pay off the full balance each month. The standard student budget allows for a moderate standard of living that does not include an allowance for revolving credit card payments. We can not increase the budget for consumer debt payments. All students are strongly encouraged to clear all of their consumer debt before entering law school, even if this means depleting assets to do so.

Using credit cards wisely will help you maintain a good credit record. Creditworthiness is a requirement for students seeking financing through supplemental education loans.