Law School Financial Aid
Because not everyone is fortunate enough to afford the overwhelming fees which are needed to obtain a law degree, some students rely on law school financial aids in order to pursue their dreams of becoming great practitioners of law. Financial aids are special types of funding which are purposely given to support the education of some students. (1)
The different types of law school financial aid are in the form of loans, scholarships, grants, and assistantships. Financial aids cover the tuition fees and other miscellaneous expenses needed by the students but some other types also include book allowance, board and lodging funds, and food allowance. Some types of law school financial aid such as grants and scholarships are completely honored to students without expecting repayments in the future while some financial aid types like loans and assistantships are actually given with the condition of being paid back in the future whether they may be in the form of cash or service. (2)
Loans are types of law school financial aids which are received from banks, academic institutions, government sectors, or private organizations. The four types of loans are student loans, parent loans, private student loans, and consolidation loans. (3) For loan types of financial aid, the students are provided with the financial support that is necessary to finish their law degrees but they are also expected to pay back their financers when they are stable enough to do so. Loans may differ in terms of the terms of repayment, the amount of money borrowed, the guidelines of agreement, and the rate of interests.
The scholarship type of law school financial aid is further classified into two: merit-based and need-based. As the name suggests, merit-based scholarships are those types of financial aid which are awarded to people with special merits such as academic excellence, leadership potentials, musical talents, or athletic skills. Need-based scholarships, on the other hand, are law school financial aid types are given to students who are in dire need of financial support in order to continue with their chosen field of studies. (4)
Another type of law school financial aid which doesn't require any form of repayment in the future is a grant. Grants are educational support given to students either by government divisions or by private institutions.
Like loans, the assistantship type of law school financial aid is intended to be repaid. However, unlike loans, assistantship financial aids are not paid in the form of cash. (5) In assistantships, the students are required to work as teaching assistants, laboratory assistants, or research assistants as a form of repaying the school for the privilege of being able to further their law studies.
Literary Citations & Article References:
(1) http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp
(2) http://www.lsac.org/LSAC.asp?url=/lsac/financial-aid-options.asp
(3) http://www.finaid.org/otheraid/law.phtml
(4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_aid
(5) http://gradschool.about.com/od/financialaid/a/typesofaid.htm