There is no financial aid deadline for entering 1Ls and all information is strictly confidential.
There are four types of financial aid for which you may qualify: outright grants, need-based grants, competing grants, and loans.
Admitted students are automatically considered for merit-based scholarship decisions, and no separate application is required. We begin processing the bulk of our merit scholarships in mid-January; by late January, we are caught up with awards for offers made through the end of the year, and from that point through the end of the season, a merit award, if any, is made within about two weeks of an admissions offer.
Need-based grant decisions are made by the Financial Aid Office. To determine if you might qualify for need-based grants, admitted students must complete our simple online questionnaire, available in early March, on the Admitted Students website. Click on Financial Aid and Need-Based Application to access the questionnaire.
Information for Admitted Students
In cases where no merit scholarships or need-based grants have been offered, the Financial Aid Office is occasionally able to take financial aid offers from competing schools into account. Please contact us for further information.
Loans are processed in the Financial Aid Office beginning in April.
To Apply for Direct Unsubsidized Loans
On Jan. 30, 2024, the Department of Education shared that they will delay sharing Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) data until March 2024, which means that there will be a delay in our ability to determine federal loan eligibility for newly-admitted and continuing students. If you have not already done so, you may still submit a FAFSA at studentaid.gov. We will begin processing federal financial aid eligibility in April. Should you need guidance about your anticipated federal loan eligibility before April 30, please email [email protected].
- Complete and submit a 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Your (and, if applicable, your spouse’s) information must be recorded on the FAFSA. Please note that you do not need to provide parental information.
- Request that a copy of the FAFSA report be released to the University of Michigan Law School, code #E00506. (Note that the rest of the University of Michigan uses a different number.) Be sure to retain a copy of the completed form for your records.
- You may wish to apply separately for a Grad PLUS or private loan in addition to Direct Unsubsidized loans, depending on your budget and assets. (For advice about that, please feel free to contact us.) Since credit approvals expire, the earliest you should apply is June 1. If you borrow a Grad PLUS loan, please be sure to complete the School’s Grad PLUS loan application, and not the one on the StudentAid.gov website.
- Enrolling students with Direct Unsubsidized loans must complete entrance counseling as well as complete the Master Promissory Note, both available on the StudentAid.gov website. Please note that there are separate promissory notes for Direct Unsubsidized and Grad PLUS loans and if you are borrowing both, you will need to complete a promissory note for each.