Financial Aid Overview for Prospective and Newly Admitted Students
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In the Office of Financial Management, we know that your choice to enter law school is a decision to invest in your future. Legal education comes at a significant cost and we are here to help you better understand your options and help you prepare for a successful law school career.
Financial aid plays a large part in paying for your education – about 85% of students at Denver Law receive some form of financial aid, including federal student loans, and about 41% of incoming students receive merit scholarships. Understanding your financial options now, will help you to make more educated decisions about financing your legal education.
Please take some time to review the information on this site to help familiarize yourself with the financial aid process and aid options. If you have any questions, please contact us.
Financial Aid Overview
The financial aid process for new students begins with the application for admission. Students who complete the admissions application are automatically considered for our merit scholarships. These scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit, which includes your undergraduate GPA and LSAT score. Review our scholarship page for information our scholarship programs as there are two scholarship programs for new students which require an additional application.
Financial aid awards for graduate students look very different than what you may be familiar with from your undergraduate studies. At Denver Law, scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit and not financial need. Additionally, need-based grants from the federal government (such as the Pell Grant) and the State of Colorado are not available for law school. Since scholarships typically cover only a portion of your tuition charges, students who do not have other resources – such as income or savings – rely on loans to finance all or a portion of their law school expenses.
To apply for federal loans, you should submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online at www.fafsa.gov. You do not need to be admitted to Denver Law in order to submit your FAFSA. The application for the 2012-13 academic year becomes available January 1st, 2012 and students submitting the application by February 15th will receive priority consideration for Federal Perkins Loans and Federal Work Study.
We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Types of Aid available at Denver Law and with our Cost of Attendance which includes an estimate of the direct costs (tuition and fees) and indirect costs (living expenses, books, etc) for one year.
You may also want to review our Financial Aid Timeline to get a better idea of what to expect from the financial aid process.
Important Federal Aid Changes for the 2012-13 Academic Year
In August, the Budget Control Act of 2011 was signed into law and this law has direct implications on federal loans for graduate students. The most significant change for graduate students is that, beginning with the 2012-13 academic year, there will be no interest subsidy on any new Direct Stafford Loans issued to graduate students. Meaning, that interest will accrue, at a 6.8% interest rate, for all Direct Stafford Loans borrowed.
Consumer Information Disclosure
To view our consumer information, including admissions, financial aid, and bar passage information, please take a look at this Consumer Information published by the Law School Admissions Council (data in this report is from the 2010-11 academic year).