All admitted 1L students are considered for a Dean’s Scholarship. In determining the scholarship amount, both merit and financial need can be considered. Dean’s Scholarships may be awarded for all three years of the J.D. program and there is no need to reapply after your 1L year. No new applications are accepted in the 2L and 3L years.

Instructions for students entering their 1L year in Fall 2025 (students currently enrolled at UCLA School of Law should visit MyLaw):

Merit Component
Before we can determine your eligibility for merit, all admitted students must complete the Dean’s Scholarship Consideration Form, provided to you by the UCLA Law Admission’s Office. No additional application is needed for merit consideration.

Need Component
UCLA Law has a generous need component, providing significant assistance to domestic students with financial need. Each case is individually considered, but a student who qualifies for a Dean’s Scholarship, based on both merit and need, will generally receive a larger total gift award. If you are unsure whether you will qualify for a need award, we strongly encourage you to apply, even if you believe you will also qualify for a merit award.

Our awarding process for need-based scholarships takes into account both students' and their parents' financial resources. In order to help the law school’s Financial Aid Office estimate financial need, students must complete and the Law School Financial Need Application, which collects data about the family profile. The variables considered include family size, assets and income, among other things.

Application Instructions:

1. Determine if you must provide your parents’ information on the Need Application (see criteria below).
2. Complete the Law School Financial Need Application when it becomes available in mid-January.

• As part of the Need Application, admitted students and/or their parents are required to upload their 2023 Tax Return Transcripts (foreign transcripts/tax returns cannot be evaluated). In the rare case when a tax return transcript is not available, the school may accept a signed copy of the 2023 Federal Tax Return along with Schedules 1, 2 and 3, if applicable. Hard copies and emailed copies of tax documents will not be accepted. Please note that all Social Security Numbers (SSN) and any account information must be redacted on each tax transcript/tax return submitted.
   
• Students who did not file a 2023 U.S. federal tax return will need to upload a self-certified statement of non-filing to their UCLA Need Application. 
   
• Parents who did not file a 2023 U.S. federal tax return must upload an official IRS verification of non-filing. This verification documentation may be requested from the IRS by submitting form 4506-T. 

The determination of your financial-need award will only be possible once you have been admitted and the Law School Need Application have been completed.
 

Criteria for determining submission of parent information on the UCLA Law School Need Application:

Students must provide their parents' information on the Law School Need Application unless the student:

• will be 29 years of age or older by December 31 of the academic year for which he/she is applying
• can provide documentation that no one has claimed him/her on their tax returns for the last seven years
• has a dependent other than a spouse (i.e., a child) and provides more than 50% to their support
• is a veteran
• was considered as an independent by his/her undergraduate institution through dependency override, and not based on age or marital status. (Documentation required.)

Students who do not fit the above criteria and do not provide parents' information on the Need Application or do not upload the required tax documents will not be considered for a need award.

UCLA Law's donor-supported program consists of numerous endowments and scholarships funded by alumni and friends of the school, as well as law firms in our community. Consideration for student eligibility for these scholarships will take place during the admission process.

Tax and Business Law Scholarships (TABLS)

UCLA Law and the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy (LMI) annually award four scholarships to students who are interested in tax and business law and policy. These scholarships are part of LMI’s Tax and Business Law Scholarship (“TABLS”) Program. The Program is led by Jim Barrall ’75, a Senior Fellow in Residence at LMI and a retired partner of Latham & Watkins LLP.

Read more

A. Barry Cappello Scholarship in Trial Advocacy

The University of California Native American Opportunity Plan ensures that in-state systemwide mandatory tuition and fees are fully covered for California residents who are members of federally recognized Native American, American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. In addition, the Law School will also cover Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition for NAOP eligible students beginning with the class starting in fall 2024.  

Eligibility

To be eligible for this award, students must meet all of the following criteria:

1. Newly admitted or a current law school student
2. California resident
3. Enrolled member in a federally recognized Native American, American Indian and/or Alaska Native tribe
4. Enrolled in a state-supported UC degree program (i.e., students in self-supporting and certificate programs do not qualify)

If you are a member of a tribe that is not federally recognized, additional support may be available through external organizations, including the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria Scholarship Fund.

Documentation Requirements

Students should file a FAFSA, but no additional application is required.

Students who are potentially eligible must submit tribal enrollment documentation from their federally recognized tribe or the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).  All documents must be uploaded to www.my.ucla.edu under the ‘Documents’ section of ‘Finances and Jobs.”  Documentation may include any of the following:

• Certification of tribal enrollment on tribal letterhead
• Enrollment/membership card that contains the tribal seal and/or official signature of a tribal leader
• Certification of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB) if the CDIB includes tribal enrollment information
• Tribal identification card with an enrollment number

Students must also submit tribal contact information (address, phone, email) if it is not evident on submitted documentation.

NAOP Award Amount

For eligible students, the Native American Opportunity Plan will fully cover UC systemwide tuition ($12,762), and Student Services Fees ($1,254) and the Law School will fully cover Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition ($43,756).  The maximum combined NAOP and Law School PDST award for the 2024-25 academic year is $ $57,772.

If you are already receiving gift aid (law school merit, need, and/or a donor-based scholarship, GOFP), veteran’s tuition benefits and/or external scholarships that are tuition specific and the total of your gift aid is equal to or more than your UC systemwide tuition, Student Services Fees and Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition, then the Native American Opportunity Plan promise has been satisfied.  However, if your law school gift aid does not fully cover UC systemwide fees, Student Services Fees, and Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition, your Native American Opportunity Plan will cover the difference with additional funding. 

Examples:

1. Your gift aid is $58,000.  The Native American Opportunity Plan promise has been satisfied as your gift aid is greater than the NAOP award. 
2. Your gift aid is $20,000.  You would receive an additional aid amount of $37,772 under the Native American Opportunity Plan.
    

The tuition, fees and awards listed here are estimates based on existing amounts. These figures may not be final. Actual tuition, fees, and charges are subject to change and could be affected by state funding reductions.  

UCLA School of Law receives notices and information about various scholarships, fellowships and writing competitions sponsored by foundations, alumni associations, bar associations, etc. The Financial Aid Office will post applicable notices on this page or our intranet site as received. Please note that the posting of these scholarships does not imply endorsement of any organization and/or scholarship.

Outside scholarship checks should be sent to UCLA’s Payment Solutions and Compliance office. The checks should be made out to the UC Regents and contain the student’s name and University ID on the check/accompanying paperwork. The address is:

UCLA Payment Solutions & Compliance
Box 957089, 1125 Murphy Hall
405 Hilgard Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90095-7089

Deadline: January 31, 2025
THE INCLUSION & DIVERSITY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
The Inclusion & Diversity Fellowship program is a joint program managed by the California Lawyers Foundation and the California Lawyers Association Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section. The Foundation and the Section are dedicated to increasing the participation and visibility of diverse and underrepresented lawyers in the practice of antitrust and unfair competition law. The goal of the fellowship is to provide career opportunities for students from underrepresented groups in the legal profession, increase interest in antitrust and unfair competition law, and promote the work of the Section by a monetary Stipend up to $10,000

Deadline: January31, 2025
SYDNEY B. WILLIAMS, JR. SCHOLAR PROGRAM
The Sidney B. Williams, Jr. Scholar Program, the Foundation’s Flagship DEI Initiative, Assists STEM-Educated Individuals seeking admission to an ABA-accredited law school with an interest in the advancement of diversity-minded individuals that are underrepresented in the patent law profession in the United States. The scholar program offers selected scholars $30,000 law school tuition grant awards and provides financial and non-financial assistance to scholars during the law school admissions process and throughout law school.

Deadline: February 10, 2025
MEXICAN AMERICAN BAR FOUNDATION ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
The Mexican American Bar Foundation proudly announces the opening of the application season for its annual scholarship awards program. Since 1991, the Foundation has pursued its mission of promoting diversity in the legal profession through education by awarding scholarships to Latinx law students. Scholarship amounts will depend on fundraising efforts with the goal of awarding scholarships up to $15,000.

Deadline: February 15, 2025
MELMED LAW GROUP P.C. COLLEGIATE SCHOLARSHIP
The employment lawyers at Melmed Law Group P.C. proudly support the pursuit of success through higher education. We also understand that higher education can be a challenging financial investment for some, and we’d like to offer our support. To that end, our office offers an annual scholarship to one college student at the end of February of each year. Scholarship amount: One time payment of $ 5,000 in the form of a check that will be mailed to the University/College of your choice.

Deadline: February 17, 2025
ABA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY 2024-25
The Japanese American Bar Association Educational Foundation is pleased to offer up to four scholarships in the amount of $3,000 each.  Applications are currently being accepted from law students and recent law school graduates with a connection to the Japanese American and/or Asian/Pacific Islander (“API”) community who have a demonstrated commitment to community service.  Additional factors may include financial need, adversity, academic achievement, leadership, service to the Japanese American and/or API community, and present and/or potential future involvement with JABA and/or the JABA Educational Foundation. 

Deadline: February 18, 2025
DIVERSITY SCHOLARS PROGRAM
The program offers scholarship money and mentorship to 1Ls whose unique background or life experience would contribute to the enhancement and strength of the legal profession and have an interest in pursuing a litigation career in the Bay Area. This year, Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP will award up to $100,000 in scholarship grants, split among up to four deserving students.

Deadline: February 27, 2025
1L DIVERSE SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY
The Bowman and Brooke Foundation has established a scholarship program to assist students currently enrolled in first year of Law School Studies (1L) who plan to enroll full-time at an ABA–accredited law school for the entire upcoming academic year. If selected as a recipient, the student will receive a $5,000 award. Up to 2 awards will be granted.

Deadline: February 28, 2025
THE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION SCHOLARSHIP
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Scholarship was established in 2020. Scholarships are awarded to JD applicants annually who meet certain general criteria and who identify as persons of color. To be eligible for this scholarship, a student must be enrolled full time at an accredited law school but need not be attending a Constituent Law School. A student must demonstrate serious and diligent pursuit of academic achievement (although academic performance is not determinative). Other criteria include leadership ability, year in law school, and financial need. Recent awards have ranged from $1,000 to $18,000.

Deadline: March 3, 2025
10,00 DEGREES - SCHOLARSHIPS FOR LOW INCOME STUDENTS
10,000 Degrees provides scholarships to students with financial need and who exhibit a strong desire to go to college and accomplish their educational goals. Our scholarship recipients are often the first in their family to attend and graduate college! We award scholarships primarily to students in the regions we serve in the Bay Area, California but Our students are accepted to colleges and universities across the country and world including UCLA Law School.

Deadline: March 17, 2025
FUTURE LAWYERS SCHOLARSHIP
Having dedicated our lives to the legal profession, the attorneys with Andrew Cores Family Law Group are excited to assist law students with expenses related to their college education. Each semester, the firm is offering an aspiring or current law student the opportunity to win $2,000 through the Andrew Cores Family Law Group Future Lawyers Scholarship. 

Deadline: April 1, 2025
VABASC BAR EXAM STIPEND APPLICATION
The Vietnamese American Bar Association of Southern California (VABASC) is offering a $1500 bar exam stipend for a law student or recent law school graduate looking to take the bar exam this year. 

Deadline: April 2, 2025
FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP
Attorney David Kadzai appreciates the resilience and hard work it takes to become a first-generation college student. The journey of becoming the first person in your family to attend university is often filled with intimidating challenges and difficult circumstances. Attorney Kadzai hopes to alleviate some of the stress and difficulty of this journey by offering financial assistance to students. His law firm established this $2,500 scholarship to make higher education more attainable for those who are embarking on this journey.

Deadline: April 15, 2025
LEGAL OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP
The American Bar Association (ABA) awards an annual Legal Opportunity Scholarship to first-year law students. The program's mission is to encourage racial and ethnic minority students to apply to law school and to provide financial assistance for them to attend and complete their legal education. The ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship grants $15,000 of financial aid to 10 - 20 incoming diverse law students over their three years in law school. Since its inception, the ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship has benefitted more than 400 students from across the country.

Deadline: May 31, 2025
THE C&B LAW FUTURE LEGAL LEADERS SCHOLARSHIP
At C&B Law Group, we believe in the future, and that it starts in our own communities. The Los Angeles area is filled with rich history and pride among its residents. We know that within each neighborhood, there are students passionate about various causes that will shape LA for generations to come. The selected recipient will be awarded $1,500 to help advance their legal education.

Deadline: June 15th, 2025
THE STUCKEY FIRM SCHOLARSHIP
The Stuckey Firm Scholarship asks students to think critically about a jury’s influence on injury cases. We want students to create videos detailing their opinions on whether injury cases’ juries should be larger or more restricted. Beginning in 2024/2025, current and incoming college students may apply for the firm’s $2,500 scholarship.

Deadline: October 1, 2025
BUCKFIRE & BUCKFIRE, P.C. LAW SCHOOL DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
The scholarship was created in 2013 as part of the law firm’s commitment to helping law students who require financial assistance achieve their academic and professional dreams.  To be considered for the scholarship, the student must be a member of an ethnic, racial, or other minority, or demonstrate a commitment to issues of diversity within their community.  The scholarship will award $2,000 to one student selected by our scholarship selection committee.

Deadline: Varies Depending on Scholarship
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS FOR YOUNG LAWYERS AND LAW STUDENTS
We know every little bit helps when you’re trying to pay for law school. That’s why several ABA groups offer scholarships for law students. Scholarship amounts vary.

Deadline: See website
GLORIA BARRON WILDERNESS SOCIETY SCHOLARSHIP
The Gloria Barron Wilderness Society Scholarship seeks to encourage individuals who have the potential to make a significant positive difference in understanding wilderness and how to protect it. The scholarship is available to current qualified graduate students. It was created in honor of Gloria Barron, a dedicated educator and tireless advocate for wilderness protection. Two separate awards of $25,000 each will be given to two graduate students to support their research and preparation of a paper on an aspect of wilderness.

Attention Scholarship Donors: All submitted scholarship offers are reviewed, and if a scholarship is deemed as a possible good fit for our student population the offer will be posted on either our intranet (students only) or our external website. Due to the volume of requests, we are unable to respond to individual inquiries regarding the posting of scholarships.

A number of students each year receive non-university scholarships from a variety of organizations, agencies, companies and private individuals. These are not administered by UCLA Law. Criteria may include academic achievement, special talent, leadership ability, and group affiliation. UCLA Law makes information available to students concerning outside scholarship opportunities as it becomes available. You can also view these useful links to gain access to outside scholarship search engines:

• Big Future by The College Board
• Federal Student Aid – Scholarship Search
• Sallie Mae's Scholarship Search
• Wells Fargo Scholarship Search
• AccessLex Law School Scholarship Databank

Private loans are offered by lenders independently of the Department of Education. Private loans are best utilized only if eligibility for Federal Direct Loans has been exhausted. Private loans are not guaranteed by the federal government. These loans are based on credit and their terms vary based on the lender, from whom you borrow as well as on your (and, if required cosigner’s) credit-worthiness.

Credit-Based Private Loans

Federal student loans are available to most students regardless of income and provide a range of repayment options, including income-based repayment plans and loan forgiveness benefits, which other education loans are not required to provide.

Some students find it necessary to finance a portion of their education through private loan sources. These lenders offer loans to offset the cost of attending law school. The loan terms are printed directly on the application and also are governed by federal and state lending regulations. The choice of lender rests solely with the student, but he/she will need to meet the lender’s credit requirements. Please see UCLA's Preferred Lender List and Code of Conduct – Preferred Lenders.

Bar Loans

Law students may apply for Bar Loans for the period after graduation when they are studying for the bar. A Bar loan is an unsecured consumer loan offered to graduating law school students to assist with expenses related to the bar process. These related expenses may include the following: bar examination fees, bar review courses, and living expenses during the period after graduation and prior to being notified of the exam results.

Bar Loan interest rates are generally higher than those of federal and private loans. Students should review the product guidelines and repayment options before applying. See UCLA’s Preferred Lenders List for a list of Bar Loan lenders.

Please note: For graduates needing to obtain a Bar Loan after graduation, when using UCLA’s Preferred Lender List (ELM Select), please indicate that your graduation date will be in the future in order to obtain a potential list of lenders that offer this product.

Earned Aid includes job opportunities for students wishing to reduce loan indebtedness such as UCLA Teaching and Research Assistantships, Summer Public Interest Fellowships.

Teaching Assistantships

Through UCLA’s Graduate Division, advanced graduate and professional students have an excellent opportunity to gain practical teaching and tutoring experience in departments outside of the law school while earning an income to offset the cost of their tuition and fees. In-state students who are employed 45 percent or more are entitled to a fee remission of 75 percent of the Education Fee, a fee remission of 75 percent of the Registration Fee, and a fee remission of 100 percent of the Graduate Student Health Insurance Plan. These fee remissions significantly reduce the student’s out-of-pocket expenses for the academic year. This reduction may, in turn, affect a student’s total loan eligibility.

For more information and to obtain an application, please visit the Graduate Division website.

Summer Public Service Fellowships

Through an array of funding sources, UCLA School of Law provides stipends to first-and second-year students who engage in otherwise unpaid summer internships with nonprofit organizations or government agencies (judicial externships are not categorized as internships with government agencies). The application process begins in the spring semester, and students with eligible positions must submit an application in order to be considered for this Fellowship. In summer 2020, UCLA School of Law funded approximately 250 students.

• FAFSA
• Federal Student Aid Info
• National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)
• ​Debt Management Session (Entrance Loan Counseling)
• Graduate Division
• Residency Requirements
• Free Credit Report
• MAX by AccessLex

UCLA School of Law offers a robust Loan Repayment Assistance Program commonly referred to as LRAP.  This program can provide financial support for recent J.D. graduates employed in public interest or public service settings, where salaries are significantly lower than in the private sector. Graduates may participate in the Program for up to 10 years.

Through LRAP, UCLA Law has in the past decade covered roughly $4.5 million in student loan payments for J.D. graduates who work in public interest jobs, government positions or judicial clerkships.

Under UCLA Law School’s LRAP guidelines, effective January 2025, alumni with incomes up to $80,000 may have their entire eligible loan payments fully covered. Applicants with incomes up to $120,000 may now receive partial assistance.

“Student loans are one of the biggest barriers for law students who want to pursue public interest careers,” says Brad Sears, UCLA Law’s associate dean of public interest law. “The support that LRAP provides helps bridge that gap and allows the full diversity of our student body to pursue public interest careers, including students who carry a significant amount of student loan debt.”

To qualify for LRAP, a graduate must meet the LRAP guidelines which include working for a nonprofit organization, a clerkship or an agency of government in law-related employment that makes substantial use of legal skills.  Because most educational loans offer a six-month grace period following graduation, graduates going directly into qualifying employment will usually receive their first LRAP loan approximately six months after graduation.

Kia Hayes ’13, a staff attorney at the Innocence Project New Orleans, says that she could not afford to pursue her career without UCLA Law’s LRAP.:

“I came to UCLA Law because I wanted to dedicate my professional life to criminal and racial justice,” says Hayes, who has helped win the freedom of five men who were imprisoned after being wrongly convicted. “I would not be able to do this work were it not for LRAP. I relied on student loans to cover nearly all my tuition, and I would not be able to cover my monthly loan payments without LRAP.”

The School of Law’s Public Service Fellowship Program seeks to support graduating students who have demonstrated a longstanding commitment to public service, enabling them to work with a variety of nonprofit organizations and government agencies, both domestically and abroad.

Through the Professional Opportunity Program, UCLA Law and Liberty Hill Foundation have partnered to set up a one year fellowship to allow successful candidates the opportunity to work full-time for up to one year with nonprofit organizations, government agencies or judges. Participants are paid monthly stipends.

The New Graduate Opportunity Program funds part-time, temporary work with nonprofit organizations and government agencies for up to 200 hours at up to 20 hours per week. Participants are paid by UCLA School of Law - therefore negating any employer concerns regarding unpaid interns - and  have a unique opportunity to further build their resume and to enhance their legal skills while awaiting bar results. Although participating employers are not required to permanently hire these graduates, many host employers have offered our graduates long-term employment at the conclusion of the program.