(Updated October 21,2019) Congratulations!  You’ve been admitted to a few different law schools!  Now – you just need to figure out how to pay for it!  You thought the hard part was over – but, now, it seems like it is just beginning.  Let me help you get a realistic vision of what to expect/what not to expect with regards to paying for law school.

If you are a veteran who is thinking of submitting a law school application, you may be eligible to use your veterans education benefits to help pay for your tuition and other qualified expenses.  In some cases, veteran’s benefits will cover the entire amount of tuition and fees.  Below, I address the answers to the most commonly asked questions.

Congratulations! You’ve been accepted to law school. You’ve received your acceptance from the Admissions Office and your Financial Aid Award letter. Now what? What steps do you need to take to receive your financial aid awards?

Finding outside scholarships was much easier than I expected. I was surprised to learn how much funding is available for current students. Each scholarship has a different criterion. Sometimes scholarships are geared towards students pursuing an area of law, such as health law, criminal law or public interest. Sometimes scholarships are geared towards a category of students such as women, first generation law students, or New Jersey residents.

If you are researching financial aid for law school, you may know that the 2017-18 FAFSA is now available - 3 months earlier than in the past. Previously, the FAFSA was able to be completed any time after January 1, and this date has been moved up to October 1.

The 2017-18 FAFSA asks for 2015 federal income tax information – yes 2015. If you have applied for financial aid previously as an undergraduate, you may do a double take – isn’t 2015 the same information that you put on the 2016-17 FAFSA? The answer is yes, as this is the transition year. Instead of the prior year, the FAFSA now collects Prior-Prior-Year, which financial aid offices call PPY.