Financial Aid Introduction

Law School is a costly endeavor. For most students, it requires a "downsizing" of their lifestyles to simpler levels. Preparing for law school should include undertaking some common-sense steps such as paying off credit cards and other consumer debt, putting away some savings, and paring down living expenses. If you have existing educational loans, ask your lender(s) about deferment policies and obtain loan deferment forms before you enroll in school.

Financial assistance at UDC-DCSL comes from a variety of sources, including federal Stafford Loan funds, need-based and merit scholarships, and work-study. These sources of financial aid are discussed in detail in Chapter III of the UDC-DCSL financial aid information booklet entitled Financing Your Legal Education: A Guide to Financial Aid at the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law (.pdf).

Financial aid packaging puts great emphasis on loans because by "recycling" money, the greatest number of students can be helped. If you rely only on the resources available through UDC-DCSL's Office of Financial Aid, you can plan on incurring educational debts. The average law school indebtedness of students in the graduating class of 2007 who borrowed educational loans (including federal Stafford &GradPlus, and private loans) was $74,536. At a 6% interest rate with a ten-year repayment schedule, the monthly payment on this amount would be approximately $828.

We encourage students to do further research and to take advantage of financial aid search and information services available to students free of charge on the internet at FastWeb and College Answer (click on "paying" and then on "free money for college"). The UDC-DCSL financial aid information booklet also provides a partial listing of outside sources of funding on pages 11-14.

Be sure to notify the Office of Financial Aid of special circumstances such as expenses not covered by the UDC-DCSL Cost of Attendance Budget or changes in your financial situation. The Financial Aid Office is here to help you – and you may become eligible for further aid.

The UDC-DCSL Office of Financial aid is open weekdays from 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your questions or concerns about financial aid.

Nailah Williams, Financial Aid Director
UDC David A. Clarke School of Law
E-mail: nawilliamsudc.edu
Telephone: (202) 274-7337
FAX: (202) 274-5583