Scholarships

All admitted students are automatically considered for recruitment scholarships. A student’s undergraduate GPA and LSAT play an important role in that process, but we also consider each student’s professional and personal accomplishments, as well as how a student may contribute to the Notre Dame community. Potential students should submit their completed 1L application as early as possible after our application opens on September 1 for the best chance at receiving a merit scholarship.

Some scholarship funds have a greater weight towards financial need rather than LSAT and undergraduate GPA. In certain cases, we can include some of this need-based funding in a student’s recruitment scholarship.

Due to the Department of Education’s delay in processing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to Notre Dame, the Law School Admissions Office will not be using data from the FAFSA to determine additional need-based funding. Applicants will still need to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to Notre Dame (federal code: 001840) to qualify for federal financial aid, including student loans.

Funding based on any combination of academics, non-academic factors or need is combined into one award per student and is distributed by the Law School Admissions Office. Loan eligibility and other financial aid information will be sent from the University’s Office of Financial Aid.

Scholarship Notification

To ensure that we can make our most competitive scholarship offers, the Scholarship Committee will convene in February after we have received the majority of our applications. We will notify applicants of their scholarship award (if any) as soon as possible thereafter. Students admitted in February or later will be notified of their scholarship award (if any) at the time of admission.

Scholarship Retention

Scholarships offered by the Law School are automatically renewed for students who remain in good academic standing as defined in the Law School’s Hoynes Code of student conduct.

Scholarships with Special Application Processes

Polking Family Fellowship

The Polking Family Fellowship aims to cultivate the next generation of leaders who understand that law and public policy are essential elements in building a sustainable culture of life. Recipients of this fellowship will receive a scholarship along with the opportunity to work closely with the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. Polking Fellows will be invited to attend and participate in special center events, work with its visiting fellows, interact with speakers and guests of the center, conduct scholarly research, and receive special career mentoring and summer internship opportunities.

Edward J. Murphy Fellowship

Notre Dame Law School’s Program on Church, State & Society is proud to offer its distinguished Edward J. Murphy Fellowship. The Murphy Fellows, in addition to a generous scholarship, will have opportunities to meet with judges and visiting speakers, as well as access to special programming focused on religious freedom and church-state relations. Interested students may participate in Notre Dame Law School's Religious Liberty Clinic. Learn more about Edward. J Murphy, for whom the fellowship is named.

To apply for the Polking Fellowship and/or the Murphy Fellowship:

Students must apply for admission to Notre Dame Law School as a first-year J.D. student before December 1.
In addition to their regular application materials, students should also submit an additional personal statement(s) outlining their specific interest in the Fellowship as an addendum in their LSAC application.

If you are interested in both fellowships, you should submit two separate statements, however, a student may be selected for only one fellowship program.
Each statement should be no longer than two pages, double-spaced. The statement should have the student’s name and LSAC number in the header, in addition to the title of the document.

If you have already submitted your application without including your fellowship statement but still wish to apply for the Polking Family Fellowship or Murphy Fellowship, you may send your statement(s) as a PDF attachment in an email, addressed to the Office of Admissions at bulletin@nd.edu. Please include “Polking Fellowship Personal Statement” or "Murphy Fellowship Personal Statement" in the subject line of the email.

A complete application for admission and the Fellowship personal statement(s) must both be submitted by December 1 for consideration for either fellowship.
The Selection Committees will notify students of their status in mid-February.

External Scholarships

A great source of additional financing is available through national and regional scholarship awards offered by philanthropic organizations throughout the U.S. These awards are usually limited to particular populations of students based on geography, class year, area of interest in law, or ethnic background.

You can find a compilation of scholarships in the AccessLex Law School Scholarship Databank.

We also maintain a database of scholarships in our External Scholarships Database below. While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of this information, we encourage you to confirm details with the sponsoring organization. To have a scholarship added to our website, please email the information to ndlsweb@nd.edu.

External Scholarship Search

Dual Degrees

Please note that Law School scholarships may only be applied to Notre Dame Law School tuition. Pursuing a dual degree will affect a student's funding from the Law School.

Students pursuing a J.D. dual-degree with the MBA, Master of Global Affairs, M.A. in English, or M.S. in Engineering programs will be charged Law School tuition for five of their semesters at the University. It will only be during those five semesters in which the student is billed Law School tuition that the student will receive their scholarship support from the Law School.

The tuition sharing agreement with the University's ESTEEM program differs from the aforementioned dual degree partners. Students receiving $10,000 or more in annual scholarship support from the Law School will have their law scholarship reduced by $10,000 annually if they pursue the dual J.D./ESTEEM program. Students receiving $10,000 or less in annual scholarship support from the Law School will have their law scholarship reduced to $0 if they pursue the dual J.D./ESTEEM program.

Students pursuing a J.D. dual-degree with a Ph.D. at the Graduate School have unique funding scenarios depending on the Ph.D. program. Interested students should contact the Office of Admissions directly regarding scholarships and funding scenarios.