When can I apply for financial aid?
The financial aid application process (for both students and parents) opens after admission. Our institutional financial aid application on the SFS Portal is not available prior to admission. If you are admitted, you will receive a welcome email inviting you to apply for financial aid. Please do not send financial documents to SFS prior to receiving this welcome email.
Do I need to submit the CSS Profile and/or the parent FAFSA?
HLS does not use the CSS Profile. Parent information is not required on the FAFSA for graduate students.
What is the FAFSA school code?
The FAFSA should be sent to E00471. Only student information should be provided; parent information should not be included. Please note that the FAFSA will not be reviewed until the financial aid process opens after admission.
Do my parents need to submit financial information?
All grant aid applicants under the age of 29 are required to submit parent financial information as part of their preliminary financial aid application. Parents will be invited to apply after the student completes their Student Application within the SFS Self-Service Portal. Please review our Parent Resources page for additional information.
How much can I expect in grant aid?
Financial aid packages are determined after students have been admitted to HLS. We are not able to provide estimates of need-based financial aid because our program looks at dozens of different financial data points to determine eligibility. Our “Should I Apply for Grant Aid?” page provides some of the family income and asset baselines that we use for our need-based calculation. Our “Sample Aid Packages” page shows hypothetical aid packages for the 2023-24 academic year.
I am an international student. Am I eligible for financial aid?
International students (any students who are not U.S. Citizens or non-citizens eligible for federal student aid) can apply for HLS need-based grant and student loans, and financial aid packages are determined using the same need-based approach that applies to students who are U.S. citizens. For more information, please visit the International Students page.
Do you offer HLS merit scholarships?
The financial aid program at Harvard Law School is 100% need-based. HLS does not offer merit scholarships (which typically are not need-based) because doing so would decrease the resources available for need-based aid.
For more information about the financial aid program at Harvard Law School, please visit our Financial Aid Basics: Prospective and Admitted Students section.