Welcome to Student Financial Services

HLS Announces New Public Service Initiative

In a move that will further strengthen its commitment to public service, Harvard Law School is announcing that it will pay the third year tuition for all future J.D. students who commit to work in public service for five years following graduation. Dean Elena Kagan '86 announced the new program following a three-day "Celebration of Public Interest," which brought more than 600 alumni back to the HLS campus.

Although the program will go into full operation with J.D. students entering the school in fall 2008, students entering in 2006 and 2007 will benefit from a phase-in period that makes them eligible to receive third-year tuition grants of $5,000 and $10,000 respectively. This new initiative will operate in addition to the existing Low Income Protection Plan.

A Message from the Director of Student Financial Services

We are called Student Financial Services because financial aid is just one of the things we do. Our office is also home to the Low Income Protection Plan and the Summer Public Interest Funding Program. We help HLS students with billing issues and administer the financial clearance process each term. And we offer a full schedule of workshops and presentations on financial matters that are open to all HLS students and go well beyond financial aid.

Overview of the HLS aid program

Through need-based aid to students and graduates, Harvard Law School provides access to legal education and preserves the broadest range of career choice options in a variety of law-related and public service fields. The JD financial aid program measures the ability of students to pay tuition, fees, and living expenses – and the ability of graduates to repay education loans – then awards need-based aid to all who qualify for assistance.

In-school financial aid

Harvard Law School Grant and Loan assistance is awarded on the basis of demonstrated financial need. The School does not award “merit” or “full-ride” scholarships (which typically are not need-based) because these would necessarily reduce the resources available for need-based aid and significantly increase the debt burden of every financially needy student. For students whose demonstrated financial need does not reach the threshold for Law School Grant eligibility, Federal Direct Stafford Loans and supplemental education loans are available to meet education expenses. For international students, Harvard Law School Loans are offered instead of Federal Direct Stafford Loans.

Career choice

Loan repayment statistics show that graduates working in private sector jobs (where the average starting salary for 2007 Harvard Law School graduates is over $150,000) are comfortably able to repay even a significant education debt, and that the percentage of income devoted to loan repayment declines over time as annual income increases. For graduates in relatively low-paying jobs, however, an investment in law school education can turn into an unmanageable repayment burden. The Low Income Protection Plan (LIPP) addresses this problem by extending financial assistance from the Law School for many years beyond graduation. LIPP is an income-contingent loan repayment assistance program for graduates in public service or law-related private sector jobs – in other words, LIPP helps eligible graduates repay their loans. Unlike public interest scholarships, LIPP requires no “up front” commitment to public service work. Any Harvard Law School J.D. program graduate can qualify for LIPP assistance to repay eligible education loans.

Further support for public service

Student Financial Services also administrates the Summer Public Interest Funding program, which guarantees funding to every first-year or second-year student who takes a public service summer job for at least 10 weeks. All students are eligible to participate (whether receiving academic-year financial aid or not), and financial aid recipients are guaranteed a minimum of $5,000 in funding for the summer.

A workable plan

We want to help you develop a workable plan for financing your education and doing the work you choose after graduation. You can learn more about our program throughout this website, and the Student Financial Services staff is always ready to answer your questions.

Ken Lafler
Director of Student Financial Services