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Financial Aid
Educational loans and merit scholarships are the main forms of financial assistance at the School of Law. Students who wish to finance their legal education in part through federal educational loans must complete a FAFSA (W&L school code 003768) and direct that it be sent to Washington and Lee University. The University's Office of Financial Aid will not begin work on your file until your FAFSA has been received. Washington and Lee does not require parental information on the FAFSA for law students. Award packages are typically mailed in mid-March. Students typically fund their legal education through a mixture of personal resources, scholarships, and federal and (in some cases) private loans which add up to the total cost of attendance at W&L Law. Qualification for both federal as well as private educational loans is determined by applicable regulations, the availability of funds, and in some cases, additional factors such as credit.
Gift Aid
There is no need-based aid or grants available for law students.
Merit-based scholarships are awarded by the Law School Admissions Office based on undergraduate academic records, LSAT scores, probability of superior scholarship in the School of Law, and potential for leadership in the legal profession.
Graduate School Loans
Federal Loans
All students who wish to finance their legal education with a federal unsubsidized loan must complete a FAFSA and direct that it be sent to the Washington and Lee Office of Financial Aid. Each year the FAFSA becomes available in October. The Office of Financial Aid will not begin processing your file until you have been admitted and your FAFSA has been received.
Private Loans
Private educational loans may be a viable option in conjunction with, or as a replacement for, federal loans. To aid in this process, W&L provides a secure private loan comparison platform: ELMSelect. ELMSelect offers a list of private loan options from lenders specifically offering loans for students in professional programs. Law students considering private loans are encouraged to carefully review and compare the terms of all available loan options and to contact lenders directly for detailed information about specific loan products.
Please note that student loan borrowing, combined with any other aid a student receives, cannot exceed the Cost of Attendance at Washington and Lee University School of Law.
Loan Information for 3L Students
*For more specific information regarding the multiple steps in the educational loan application process, please consult the Financial Aid website. If you have additional questions not addressed by the web resources, please contact Drake Breeden, Associate Director of Financial Aid, Law, at 540.458.8032 or ebreeden@wlu.edu. Individual student loan counseling is available with Mr. Breeden; students may contact him at 540.458.8032 or ebreeden@wlu.edu to schedule an appointment. Prospective and current law students may also contact AccessLex to schedule an individual appointment with one of their Accredited Financial Counselors (AFC®).
Work Study
Law students may request approval to work on campus through the University's work study program. The work study award is $4,000 and reduces a student's Grad PLUS Loan eligibility by the work study award amount. Please note that if you accept the work study award and a position, the Office of Financial Aid typically does not revise the award later in the year if the student does not earn the full amount that was awarded. Know too that a student must still obtain a work study position. The listing of available work study positions for the upcoming academic year is updated each summer and made available to eligible students. Students interested in participating in work study should contact Drake Breeden, Associate Director of Financial Aid, Law, at 540.458.8032 or ebreeden@wlu.edu in order to receive school approval. Due to the rigor of the curriculum, first-year students are strongly encouraged not to be employed outside the law school and to limit their hours to 10 per week.