Admissions, Expenses, and Financial Aid

The Degree of Juris Doctor (J.D.)

Admissions
The small size of Yale Law School-approximately 180 in each entering class-requires an extremely selective admissions process. Admission is subject to approval by the dean, pursuant to policies promulgated by the faculty of the School and the Corporation of Yale University. Overall, the Law School seeks the most promising students, in terms of their professional and academic distinction. Students are considered for admission regardless of financial need.

To apply for the class entering in September 2002, an applicant must:

1. Have received or expect to receive a bachelor's degree (or the equivalent) from an approved college.

2. Take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) no later than December 2001.

3. Arrange for the submission of transcripts of undergraduate and graduate schools attended to Law Services for the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS). Any new undergraduate grades received during the application process may be submitted directly to the Law School or to Law Services, which sends updated reports to law schools.

4. Arrange for the timely submission of at least two letters of recommendation from professors under whom the applicant has studied (preferably in high-level courses in the major field of study). Applicants who have been out of school for some time may substitute letters from employers or others who know them well. Applicants may submit letters through the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) letter of recommendation service, which is included as part of the LSDAS registration subscription. Please see the current LSAT/LSDAS registration book for instructions for using this service. Some recommenders may wish to write specifically about the applicant's qualifications for study at Yale Law School, rather than for the study of law in general. Such letters are quite welcome and should be sent directly to Yale; they may not be sent through the LSAC service. (See the admissions application form for further details.) Although supplemental material is welcome, files will be considered complete for review purposes when the required material has been received.

5. Complete and submit an admissions application form, along with the appropriate application fee (see below). The application must be postmarked or date-stamped by February 15, 2002. It is your responsibility to make certain all items arrive at Yale in a timely fashion.

The application may be filed electronically or on paper. We strongly encourage you to apply electronically using the LSACD or the LSACD on the Web software, which is available for purchase from the LSAC, online at www.lsac.org/ or by telephone at 215.968.1001. If you use this option, and submit your data electronically, the application fee is $55.

You may also apply using one of three paper formats: the LSACD or LSACD on the Web software; the paper application found in our information brochure; or the paper application found in PDF format on the Law School's Web site (www.law.yale.edu/). The information brochure may be requested through the Yale Law School Web site (choose "Request a J.D. information brochure and application" from the "J.D. Admissions" section of the Web site); or by writing to the Office of Admissions, Yale Law School, PO Box 208329, New Haven CT 06520-8329. The application fee for the three paper options is $70. If you decide to apply using one of the paper options, submit your application and data card to the Office of Admissions, Yale Law School, PO Box 208329, New Haven CT 06520-8329. Our street address for courier deliveries is 127 Wall Street, New Haven CT 06511.

6. Pay the nonrefundable application fee appropriate to the format you have chosen ($55 or $70).

The deadline for applications is February 15, 2002. Applications postmarked or date-stamped thereafter will be reviewed at the Law School's discretion and only after all other complete applications are reviewed.

Those applying for entry in the fall of 2002 are expected to take the LSAT no later than December 2001. Information concerning the test may be found in the registration booklet for the LSAT, which is usually available at college or university prelaw or counseling/career planning offices, or directly from Law Services, Law School Admission Council (LSAC), online at www.lsac.org/; Box 2000, Newtown pa 18940-0998; or telephone 215.968.1001. Additional information is contained in The Official Guide to U.S. Law Schools, published by LSAC and the ABA.

Any requests for exceptions to the admissions and application requirements stated above should be addressed in writing to the Office of Admissions, Yale Law School, PO Box 208329, New Haven CT 06520-8329.

A personal interview is not required. An interview may be arranged, however, if there are special circumstances that cannot adequately be described in writing. The usual purpose for scheduling an interview is to provide the applicant with information about the School.

Applicants are encouraged to submit applications as soon as possible after September 15. We suggest this early autumn date to ease pressure on the process and because candidates who apply just before the deadline, or whose remaining required materials are submitted late, run the risk that the class will be filled before their applications are reviewed.

Applications are considered roughly in the order in which they are completed, beginning in December. Relatively early applicants whose letters are being sent directly to Yale Law School should not be concerned if they are given to understand by LSAC that their LSDAS report has not been sent to Yale because there are no letters on file at LSAC. The Law School will begin to receive such reports on November 15. The Law School structures the timing of the receipt of material from LSAC carefully to ensure the most efficient processing. No applicant will be disadvantaged by the Law School's procedures.

An applicant to whom an offer of admission is being made will be notified immediately after the decision is made. An application may be "held'' for later consideration if the applicant does not quite meet the competition of those currently being admitted but has strong qualifications that indicate possible admission later in the season. A file may be read by as many as four faculty readers; therefore, few applicants receive a decision before early March.

A completed file consists of the application form, an essay, two letters of recommendation, and an LSDAS report. For applicants whose undergraduate work was outside the United States or Canada, and not in an institution with an American-style grading system (see LSDAS registration booklet), a completed file contains, instead of an LSDAS report, an LSAT score report and an official certification of work done abroad.

The Law School admissions office will notify you by e-mail or postcard when your application has been received and when it is complete. If an applicant has not received notification of completion within four weeks of the notification of receipt, the applicant may contact the admissions office about the status of the application. Frequent phone and e-mail inquiries delay consideration of applications. Applicants should not telephone to inquire about decisions unless deposit deadlines at other law schools are involved.

No person is eligible for admission who has been excluded from any law, graduate, or professional school for deficiency in scholarship or because of misconduct. Any material misstatements on the application form or any form of application dishonesty (including fraudulent practices relating to the LSAT) will be considered disqualifying misconduct by the admissions committee.

Upon notification of acceptance, an applicant must deposit $250 before the acceptance will be deemed final and a place held for the applicant in the next class. The deposit is fully refundable if the Law School is notified by June 15 that the admitted student intends to withdraw; after that date, the deposit will not be refunded.

An accepted applicant to Yale Law School who has submitted the required acceptance deposit may petition the admissions committee for deferred acceptance to the immediate next year. In exceptional cases, such as foreign academic programs, a two-year deferral may be granted.

Deferral requests should be made as soon as possible after acceptance. If possible, requests for deferral should be submitted, along with the deposit, by the deposit deadline. Petitions should be submitted no later than June 1. Persons admitted from the waiting list are ineligible for deferral. When a deferral is granted, the student's acceptance deposit will be credited to the student's account upon matriculation. A further confirmation deposit will be required by March 15 of the year in which the student intends to enroll.

No student may commence studies as a first-year student in the J.D. program in the spring term; all new J.D. students must start in the fall term. The Law School does not have an evening division, nor is there a summer session. Yale Law School offers no correspondence courses.

Transfer Policy/Advanced Standing
Students who have done a year's full-time work (or the equivalent) in residence at another U.S. law school may apply to transfer to Yale with residence and academic credit for up to two terms of study. At least two years' work must be done at Yale Law School. Credit will be granted only if the other school is approved by the American Bar Association and if the applicant maintained a weighted grade average of not less than B (or an equivalent) for all work in that school. To be considered, an applicant must have completed an undergraduate degree before matriculation. Applicants in special programs in U.S. law schools who have completed the first year of law school while completing the requirements for a bachelor's degree may be considered for transfer.

Application forms for transfer can be obtained by e-mailing admissions.law@yale.edu; by writing to the Admissions Office, Yale Law School, PO Box 208329, New Haven CT 06520-8329; or by telephoning 203.432.4995.

Transfer applications must be filed by July 20. A completed application for transfer includes an application form, a $70 application fee, both undergraduate and law school transcripts, and at least two letters of recommendation from law school professors. Spring-term law school grades must be received by Yale Law School before decisions can be made. Please see the application form for further information. Decisions on transfer candidates will be made during the first week of August.

Normally, applicants from foreign law schools should apply for admission to the first year of the J.D. program. Requests for advanced standing based on work done outside the United States should be made to Associate Dean Natalia Martín after an offer of admission to the first-year program has been made.

Visiting Students
In special circumstances, a student enrolled at another law school may apply for admission on a full-time, nondegree basis. Visiting students may attend for a term or a year, earning credit toward a degree at their own institutions. The admissions committee considers past academic performance as well as the special circumstances in deciding about such requests.

Students who desire to apply as visiting students should fill out the J.D. application materials and send them to the director of admissions marked Visiting Student Request with a $70 application fee. Yale Law School will begin to consider visiting student requests for the next academic year after May 1. A complete application for visiting students contains, in addition to the application forms, a college transcript, law school grades, and two letters of recommendation from law school professors.

A visiting student must have permission from his or her degree-granting school to earn credit for course work at Yale. Any conditions imposed by that school must also be communicated to Associate Dean Natalia Martín. The student must pay full tuition to Yale Law School and is eligible to apply for federal and supplemental loans, but is not eligible for Yale Law School scholarship money. The student may have limited or restricted access to participation in student-run journals and may have a lower priority than Yale Law students in limited-enrollment courses.

Financing Law School
Quality legal education is expensive, and the Law School draws on the University, alumni, and friends to keep annual tuition well below the per student cost of education. Through a combination of loan, grant, and postgraduate assistance programs, the School seeks to reduce further the burden of education costs on those students demonstrating financial need. Approximately three-quarters of the student body now receives some form of financial assistance, and the average financial aid award places the student's net cost below that of other schools with comparable tuition. Postgraduate assistance through the Career Options Assistance Program and postgraduate fellowships extend the Law School's commitment to the financial aid of its students.

Tuition and Expenses
Tuition is $14,900 per term, including mandatory fees. The total yearly bill is $29,800 not including other necessary expenses such as books, food, housing, hospitalization insurance fees, etc. Information on housing costs can be found under Living at Yale. Bills are payable before the beginning of each term at the University Office of Student Financial Services.

The $250 deposit required in the spring will be credited on the tuition bill if the student registers in the fall. If the applicant withdraws by June 15, the deposit will be refunded. After that date, the deposit will not be refunded. A student receiving an admission deferral (see under Admissions above) will, upon matriculation, receive tuition credit for all deposits, but such a student will forfeit admission deposits if the student withdraws after June 15 of the year in which the deposit was made.

Students will be charged a special roster fee of $60 per term to be maintained on the school records during periods of nonattendance.

Because of changes in federal regulations governing the return of federal student aid (Title IV) funds for withdrawn students, the tuition rebate and refund policy has changed from that of recent years. The following rules became effective on July 1, 2000.

1. For purposes of determining the refund of federal student aid funds, any student who withdraws from Yale Law School for any reason during the first 60 percent of the term shall receive a pro rata rebate of tuition.

2. For purposes of determining the refund of institutional aid funds and for students who have not received financial aid, the following shall apply:

If a first-time student withdraws for any reason on or before the first day of classes in the first term at Yale Law School, tuition will be rebated in full (excluding, after June 15, 2001, the nonrefundable admissions tuition deposits). If the student withdraws on or before November 18, 2001, in the fall term (i.e., during the first 60 percent of the student's first term), tuition will be rebated pro rata.

For all other students who withdraw:

- tuition for a term will be rebated in full if the withdrawal occurs during the first tenth of the term (in the fall, on or before September 15, 2001; in the spring, on or before February 7, 2002);

- 50 percent of tuition for a term will be rebated if the withdrawal occurs after the first tenth but during the first quarter of the term (in the fall, on or before October 2, 2001; in the spring, on or before February 23, 2002);

- 25 percent will be rebated if the withdrawal occurs during the second quarter of the term (in the fall, on or before November 7, 2001; in the spring, on or before March 31, 2002).

- There will be no rebate for withdrawals after midterm.

The estimated minimum amounts required for all expenses for the academic year, including tuition, are stated in the section on financial aid below.

Student Accounts and Bills
Student accounts, billing, and related services are administered through the Office of Student Financial Services, which is located at 246 Church Street. The telephone number is 203.432.2700.

Yale Charge Account: Students who sign and return a Yale Charge Card Account Authorization form will be able to charge designated optional items and services to their student accounts. Students who want to charge toll calls made through the University's telephone system to their accounts must sign and return this Charge Card Account Authorization. The University may withdraw this privilege from students who do not pay their monthly bills on a timely basis. For more information, contact the Office of Student Financial Services at 246 Church Street, PO Box 208232, New Haven CT 06520-8232; telephone, 203.432.2700; fax, 203.432.7557; e-mail, sfs@yale.edu.

Yale Payment Plan: The Yale Payment Plan is a payment service that allows students and their families to pay tuition, room, and board in eleven or twelve equal monthly installments throughout the year based on individual family budget requirements. It is administered for the University by Academic Management Services (AMS). To enroll by telephone, call 800.635.0120. The fee to cover administration of the plan is $50. The deadline for enrollment is June 22. Application forms will be mailed to all students. For additional information, please contact AMS at the number above or visit their Web site at http://www.amsweb.com/.

Bills: A student may not register for any term unless all bills due for that term and for any prior term are paid in full.

Bills for tuition, room, and board are mailed to the student during the first week of July, due and payable by August 1 for the fall term; and during the first week of November, due and payable by December 1 for the spring term. The Office of Student Financial Services will impose a late charge if any part of the term bill, less Yale-administered loans and scholarships that have been applied for on a timely basis, is not paid when due. The late charge will be imposed as follows:

No degrees will be conferred and no transcripts will be furnished until all bills due the University are paid in full. In addition, transcripts will not be furnished to any student or former student who is in default on the payment of a student loan.

Charge for Returned Checks: A processing charge of $20 will be assessed for checks returned for any reason by the bank on which they were drawn. In addition, the following penalties may apply if a check is returned:

1. If the check was in payment of a term bill, a $110 late fee will be charged for the period the bill was unpaid.

2. If the check was in payment of a term bill to permit registration, the student's registration may be revoked.

3. If the check was given in payment of an unpaid balance in order to receive a diploma, the University may refer the account to an attorney for collection.

Financial Aid
Applicants for financial aid must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which can be obtained by telephoning 800.433.3243 or on the Internet at www.fafsa.ed.gov/. A Need Access diskette is also required and can be obtained by telephoning 800.282.1550, by writing to Need Access, PO Box 7480, Wilmington de 19803-9918, or on the Internet at www.accessgroup.org/. Diskettes are also obtainable from the financial aid office and should be submitted to Need Access no later than March 15 for students entering in September, or April 15 for continuing students. No financial aid application will be processed unless it is completely filled out, including the required information about parents' finances. Students who are twenty-nine years of age or older need not supply information about parental finances.

The estimated budget for a single student for tuition, books, and all living costs for the academic year 2001-2002 is $42,000. The estimated budget for a married couple (no children) is $46,900. Individual cases may, of course, vary from these estimates, but all financial aid need determinations are based initially on these averages.

Among the aims of the aid policy are allocating scholarship resources to the neediest students and balancing graduates' educational indebtedness. The School therefore uses a formula that increases the proportion of grant as total need increases. Students whose total need is relatively low will normally receive only loan assistance. While the formula varies each year, in 2001-2002 students are expected to meet at least the first $25,700 of need with loans, typically relying on federally guaranteed loans to the maximum extent possible. The remainder of each award above the required loan portion is ordinarily met through supplemental loans and scholarship grants from the Law School.

In calculating individual financial aid awards, the student's financial resources-including student assets, summer and term-time employment, and spouse's and parents' contribution-are taken into account. The School treats as financially independent of their parents' support any students who are twenty-nine years old or older at the time they enter the Law School and who have been fully independent of parental support for more than three consecutive years. For students twenty-seven and twenty-eight years old at entrance, only one-half of the calculated parental contribution will be treated as a resource.

A brochure containing detailed information on financial aid policies is available from the Financial Aid Office, Yale Law School, PO Box 208215, New Haven CT 06520-8215 or online at www.law.yale.edu in the "Students" section of the Web site. The director and staff of the office are available to discuss financial aid matters.

Career Options Assistance Program
Yale Law School has long encouraged its graduates to consider the broad spectrum of careers available to them. In 1988, it established the Career Options Assistance Program (COAP) - the most generous postgraduation financial assistance program in the country - to mitigate the influence of educational debts on the career choices of its graduates. COAP is made possible through an endowment established by the C. E. and S. Foundation and the Humana Foundation of Louisville, Kentucky, which grants were made at the recommendation of David A. Jones '60, Founder and CEO Emeritus of Humana, Inc., and David A. Jones, Jr. '88, Vice-Chairman of Humana, Inc. COAP also receives generous funding from the estates of Hans Klagsbrunn '32 and his wife, Dr. Elizabeth Ramsey, a graduate of the Yale School of Medicine, and the estate of Carolyn E. Agger '38.

COAP provides grants to cover the shortfall between graduates' educational loan payments and the amounts graduates can afford to pay from relatively modest incomes. Eligibility is based upon compensation levels, not type of employment. Participants are likely to work in such areas as local, state, and federal government; private not-for-profit public interest law practices; low-wage private law practices serving underrepresented constituencies; nonlegal not-for-profit organizations serving the public interest; and academia. (COAP assistance is available to judicial clerks in the form of loans rather than grants.) Eligibility does not depend on the political or ideological orientation of the graduate, employer, or work.

For participants with incomes under $39,000, the Law School assumes repayment of the entire annual obligation (calculated on the basis of a ten-year payback period) for qualified educational loans. Additional payments are made to compensate for the tax liability that COAP recipients bear under current law. Those with incomes over $39,000 are expected to contribute 25 percent of their income in excess of that amount toward repayment. Gross income is adjusted with regard to spouses, dependents, and assets, and provisions are made for parental leave and for part-time work.

For further information, please contact the Financial Aid Office, Yale Law School, PO Box 208215, New Haven CT 06520-8215.

The Degrees of Master of Laws (LL.M.) and Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.)

Admissions
An LL.M. applicant must:

1. If from the United States, have graduated from an approved college and have graduated with high rank from a law school that is a member of the Association of American Law Schools or approved by the American Bar Association. If from another country, have graduated with high rank from a law school or law faculty with standards substantially equivalent to those of the aforementioned American law schools. As a general rule, admission is not available to persons who have already obtained the LL.M. degree or an equivalent degree from another law school in the U.S., and applicants are encouraged to plan to complete the requirements for professional certification or bar admission prior to the time they would enter the LL.M. program.

2. Submit the following materials by December 3, 2001:

(a) a completed application form from Yale Law School and the additional materials requested in the application brochure;

(b) résumé or curriculum vitae;

(c) original or certified copies of college and law school transcripts (or, in the case of international students, the nearest equivalent record of grades and rank; transcripts must be in English or accompanied by an English translation);

(d) two letters of recommendation from law professors or other references commenting in detail on the scholastic and professional qualifications of the applicant (letters must be in English or accompanied by an English translation); books, tapes, etc. should not be submitted.

3. If the applicant's primary language is not English, establish proficiency in English. Such candidates are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), administered at centers throughout the world by the Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey. The TOEFL should be scheduled so as to insure receipt of the score prior to January 4, 2002. The admissions committee looks for a minimum score of 600 on the paper-based TOEFL and 250 on the computer-based TOEFL.

4. Pay a nonrefundable application fee of $60 or submit a note requesting a waiver of the application fee.

Applications may be obtained from the Graduate Programs, Yale Law School, PO Box 208215, New Haven CT 06520-8215; or by e-mail, gradpro.law@yale.edu. Applications may also be downloaded from the Web site at www.law.yale.edu in the "Admissions" section. Early filing is recommended. Admission decisions are announced in mid-March.

A J.S.D. applicant must:

1. Have achieved high standing in taking the LL.M. degree at Yale Law School and demonstrate strong aptitude for performing advanced scholarly research. Admission to candidacy for the J.S.D. is highly selective. It does not follow automatically from admission to the LL.M. program or from the award of the LL.M. degree, but rests entirely on the graduate committee's independent judgment of the applicant's qualifications. Admission to candidacy requires the endorsement of the graduate committee. The Yale LL.M. must have been awarded within the five years preceding the student's application.

2. Submit:

(a) a completed application form from Yale Law School, plus a letter of application;

(b) a dissertation proposal;

(c) a statement of the contingent approval of a member of the Yale faculty who is willing to supervise the candidate and of two Yale faculty readers;

(d) any writings that indicate competence in research;

(e) two letters of recommendation.

The application and supporting materials should be submitted to the J.S.D. program, Yale Law School, PO Box 208215, New Haven CT 06520-8215, by March 27, 2002.

Expenses and Financial Aid
Tuition and estimated living expenses for graduate students in the LL.M. program are the same as for J.D. students (see above). Tuition for resident J.S.D. candidates will be $4,960 per term. To be maintained on Law School records nonresident J.S.D. candidates are charged a $60 fee per term. A fee of $100 will be charged for each J.S.D. dissertation approved by the faculty. These fees will be billed by the University Office of Student Financial Services.

Scholarships and loan funds for graduate study, tuition, and living expenses are awarded by the Law School on the basis of the individual student's financial need. Awards do not include funds for travel expenses. Application for financial assistance should be made along with the regular application for admission, although admission decisions are made regardless of financial need. Applicants to the graduate programs are urged to apply to sources outside Yale Law School for support.

The Degree of Master of Studies in Law, Including Fellowships in Law for Journalists (M.S.L.)

Admissions
Applicants for this program must:

1. Have at least a bachelor's degree;

2. Submit:

(a) an application form;

(b) a complete curriculum vitae;

(c) a letter describing the applicant's professional experience and interest in the program;

(d) transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work;

(e) three letters of recommendation from persons having knowledge of the candidate's academic ability and professional promise;

(f) three writing samples for those applying as journalists; a copy of a published article or a copy of a manuscript prepared for publication for the non-journalists.

The letter of application, supporting materials, and the nonrefundable application fee of $50 should be submitted to the M.S.L. Program, Yale Law School, PO Box 208215, New Haven CT 06520-8215, by January 7, 2002.

Expenses and Financial Aid
Fees for the program are the same as for the J.D. program. Scholarship support for M.S.L. candidates is designed to supplement grants from outside sources, sabbatical salaries, and personal resources.

The program of Fellowships in Law for Journalists, within the Master of Studies in Law, currently includes a grant from the Law School covering tuition and an additional stipend for living expenses during the academic year from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Because the program was designed to enrich legal reporting, the tuition grant is retroactively converted into a loan from Yale Law School should the recipient later enroll in a J.D. or LL.B. program.

Next: General Information