Financial Aid

The Law School’s financial aid program endeavors to provide financial assistance to all full-time students seeking a Michigan J.D. who would be unable to meet the costs of their law school education if relying only on their own savings and support from their families. Our financial aid resources are substantial, drawing on a variety of Law School scholarship and loan funds as well as funds from external sources, and we distribute more than $3 million in grants annually to an entering class. Most of our resources are allocated on the basis of financial need by the Financial Aid Office, and details on how to apply for those grants and loans follow. Merit awards are distributed by the Admissions Office, however, without the need for any separate application or inquiry.

Financial aid packages assume eligibility for federal funds. Students who anticipate eligibility problems should contact the Law School’s Financial Aid Office prior to matriculation. For your convenience a list of frequently asked questions is available.

Determining Financial Need

The Law School’s financial aid program is designed to bridge the gap between the cost of a legal education at Michigan and a student’s available resources. In the interest of fairness, the Law School determines all applicants’ financial need through a uniform method of analysis. The Law School formulates a standard budget each year that will adequately cover tuition and living expenses (Fall-Winter Budget, Summer-Fall-Winter Budget [PDF]). A student’s need is determined by subtracting calculated resources from this standard budget amount. Extraordinary circumstances will be taken into account.

Calculating Resources

Determining a student’s resources is a process that requires the release of information about income, assets, and other obligations by the student, the student’s spouse, and possibly the student’s parents. The Need Access analysis is used to determine the resources available to a student. A student who is applying for Stafford and/or alternative loans only and not Law School grants or loans does not need to provide parents’ financial information or complete the Need Access form.

Students and their spouses are expected to commit their own incomes and a portion of their own assets toward meeting their living expenses and the student’s educational expenses each year. Aid packages are threfore calculated with the expectation that the spouse will be employed full-time, unless he or she is enrolled in a post-secondary program or the student’s family includes a child under one year of age. In most cases, law students are expected to save a minimum of $2,900 each summer if they are not enrolled in classes. Variations in earning capacity due to the type of legal employment are taken into account.

For students applying for Law School grants, parents’ financial information is required only for an applicant who was declared as a dependent, or was eligible to be declared as a dependent, on the parents’ federal income tax returns in any of the years from 2002-2006. (Please refer to the Parental Information page for more information.) The Need Access financial report enables us to make a comparative analysis of parents’ financial strength, which we then use to create a parental resources factor. In order to have the office waive the calculation of a parental resources factor, you must submit the first page of your federal income tax return for each of the years from 2002-2006 showing that you claimed yourself as an exemption in those five years.

If you have been declared as a dependent or were eligible to be declared as a dependent in any of the years from 2002-2006, your parents must complete all data on the Need Access report.

The calculated parental resources factor will be adjusted based upon the number of years that you have been declared as a dependent or were eligible to be declared as a dependent in the five years from 2002-2006 (see chart). The percentage factor used in your first year will remain constant each of your three years of Law School. Applicants should contact the Financial Aid Office if they believe that this analysis of parental financial strength is not accurate or if there are unusual and compelling circumstances in their case.

Three-Year Aid Packages

Full need is only assessed in your first year. A parental resources factor and asset contribution are carried forward from year-to-year. This enables us to provide three-year grant packages, adjusting annually only for changes in summer and spousal earnings.