The Public Interest Law Fellowship Overview Committee awards up to 25 fellowships annually. Applications for law fellowships are offered to all students at admission. Students who are awarded fellowships receive a 50% reduction of their tuition and fees.
Selected students must remain in academic good standing (one semester grace period allowed) to keep their fellowship and must work as an attorney in a public service job for four years after bar passage.
The Public Interest Law Fellowship Program Agreement Terms and Conditions details information about other specifications and stipulations regarding law fellowships.
Application procedure
Only students accepted into to the law school are eligible for consideration. If you are interested in applying for one of our Public Interest Law Fellowships (PILF), you must check the “I am applying for the Public Interest Law Fellowship” box on the admissions application and submit a statement of interest.
The essay should be no more than two pages in length, describing your experience in public service, interest in and commitment to public interest law, and your general career plans.
If you are admitted, your file will then be forwarded to the PILF Overview Committee. The committee meets on a regular basis throughout the admissions cycle. Decision letters are sent separately.
Students who participate in the program will be required to sign a contract that indicates their intent to practice public-interest related law after graduation and details the mechanism by which fellowship funds will be recompensed to UMass Dartmouth if a Public Interest Law Fellow decides not to pursue public interest law.
For more information, please contact Sandra Leger Silva, Associate Director of Financial Aid at 508.985.1112.
