Are you law students and searching a law scholarship for attending law school? Then you are lucky! The American Bar Association (ABA) is now offering an annual Legal Opportunity Scholarship to first-year law students. The mission of the program is to encourage racial and ethnic minority students to apply to law school and to provide financial assistance to ensure that these students have the opportunity to attend law school for three years. The ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship grants 20 incoming diverse law students with $15,000 of financial assistance over the course of their three years in law school.
On August 21, 1878, seventy-five lawyers from twenty states and the District of Columbia met in Saratoga Springs, New York, to establish the American Bar Association. Since that first meeting, the ABA has played a formative role in the development of the profession of law in the United States.
Eligibility
To be eligible to receive an ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship, an applicant must meet all of the following requirements:
- An applicant must be a citizen or permanent resident of the USA.
- The applicant must be an entering, first-year law student in the academic year 2017.
- Only students beginning law school in this academic year will be eligible for a scholarship. Law students who have completed one or more semesters or years of law school are not eligible.
- Applicants who are part-time law students also must be starting law school in this academic year to be eligible.
- At the time of submission of the application, the applicant must have achieved a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 (on a 4.0 grading scale) at his or her undergraduate institution. If the applicant has not completed his or her undergraduate degree at the time the application is submitted, he or she must have a cumulative grade-point average of at least 2.5 (on a 4.0 grading scale) as of the most recent completed semester.
- The applicant must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States of America. Students who are citizens and residents of a foreign country, even if they plan to attend law school in the United States, are not eligible to apply.
- Before receiving scholarship funds, recipients will be required to demonstrate admission to and plans to enroll at an ABAaccreditedlaw school. Because of the deadline for submitting applications, the applicant will have applied to law schools, but may not yet have been admitted to law school. If the applicant is selected to receive an ABA Legal OpportunityScholarship, he or she will be required to demonstrate admission to and plans to enroll at an ABA-accredited law school before receiving scholarship funds. Students who do not enroll or who leave law school after being admitted will be required to return all or a proportional amount of scholarship funds.
How to Apply
To be considered for the scholarship, the candidate can download the application form from the given link:
Required Documents
To complete your application, candidate provides the following information:
- You must attach copies of federal income tax forms for yourself and your parents. If you have completed your federal income tax return, attach a copy to the application. (Because the application will be submitted before the April tax deadline, you may submit copies of your previous year tax forms if you have not completed tax forms currently due. Indicate in the appropriate section of the application if you or your parents are not required to complete federal income tax forms.)
- Personal statement (limit your personal statement to 1,000 words and use only one side of the paper)
- You are required to submit at least two letters of recommendation.
- Submit an unofficial transcript or even a copy of the transcript
Submitting Details
Send completed applications to legalosf-at-americanbar.org
Scholarship Value
- The ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund will award $5,000 of financial assistance annually to each scholarship recipient attending an ABA-accredited law school.
- An award made to an entering first-year student may be renewable for two additional years, resulting in financial assistance totaling $15,000 during his or her time in law school.
- Although each recipient will need to reapply for the scholarship in his or her second and third year, the expectation is that the scholarship will be renewed each year if satisfactory performance in law school has been achieved, the student is otherwise eligible, and funding is available.
Application Deadline
Deadline for 2017 Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund applications is March 2, 2017.
More Info
Contact Information
If you have any questions or would like to contribute additional materials, e-mail to legalosf-at-americanbar.org. Or contact Sharon Tindall at Sharon.Tindall-at-americanbar.org
