Financial Information
Fees
Application Fee. An application fee of $75 must accompany each original application for admission to the Law School. No part of the fee is refundable, nor is it applicable as an advance payment of other fees.
Tuition. Tuition in the Law School for 2010–2011 is $45,405 for students for the nine-month academic year. A student who is required to withdraw for disciplinary reasons shall not be entitled to any reduction of tuition or fees.
Health Fees. All students pay an annual fee for use of the University's Student Health Service. University policy also requires that each student be covered by adequate health and hospitalization insurance. Students must pay an annual premium for this supplemental insurance or supply evidence of comparable protection from an individual or family health policy.
Special Fees. The University charges for late registration, for late payment of tuition and an annual student life fee.
Expenses
Expenses for books, supplies, room, board, laundry and cleaning, clothing, recreation, travel and incidentals will vary depending on individual taste and circumstances. A single student may expect to pay about $22,560 in expenses for the academic year.
Financial Aid for J.D. Candidates
Approximately 80 percent of the students at the Law School receive some financial aid, either in the form of scholarships or loans. Since scholarship funds are insufficient to cover all needs, most assistance involves a combination of scholarships and loans. Decisions as to the amount of financial aid awarded to entering students are based on considerations of need and merit. In determining financial need, a student's resources are apportioned over three years and, as a consequence, applicants should begin applying for financial assistance in the first year rather than waiting until their resources have been exhausted.
Applicants requesting loan assistance should submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as well as the Student Loan Administration's Graduate Loan Application. Applicants who would also like to be considered for need-based scholarship funds from the Law School must also submit the Need Access Report (www.needaccess.org).
Scholarships
A substantial portion of scholarship assistance is made possible by certain endowed funds, generous annual giving by alumni and other friends of the Law School, and the general funds of the University. A list of the funds and gifts from which scholarships are assigned is set forth elsewhere in these Announcements. Entering students will be considered for these funds.
Loans
Many students at the Law School use some combination of government and private loans to finance their educations. Qualified students have the option of borrowing from these loan programs up to the full amount of the student budget. The government loans include Perkins Loans, Federal Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, and Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loans. A complete description of the current terms of these loan programs and the application is available online at sla.uchicago.edu.
LL.M. Students
Unmarried students should expect a minimum total budget of tuition and living expenses in excess of $71,172 with concomitant increases to those with dependents. Scholarship funds (partial tuition waivers) to support students in the LL.M. program are exceedingly limited. Grants are available only in a small portion of the total cost, therefore applicants requiring financial aid should make every effort to obtain assistance from their governments, employers, families, or other outside sources.
J.S.D. Students
All students in the J.S.D. Program receive Law School scholarship funds to cover their full tuition charges.