Funding Your Education
Tuition for the 2011-12 academic year is $1,188 per credit hour. LL.M. and M.J. students are required to take a total of 24 credits during the course of their studies, and may take no more than 30 credits at MSU Law. Accepted students must document their financial ability to pay tuition, travel, and living expenses for the duration of the program, per United States visa policies. The total required funding for one year of study, including 24 credits and all living expenses, is $44,010.
MSU Law offers a number of financial assistance opportunities, ranging from fellowships and scholarships to work study assistance. Students are automatically considered for merit awards, which acknowledge outstanding academic and professional achievements in law. The application deadline for students interested in scholarship opportunities is March 1. Students who apply after this date will not be eligible for scholarship consideration. Because the program admits many outstanding applicants, the demand for financial assistance always exceeds available funds. As a result, applicants are encouraged to seek funding from a variety of public and private sources, and to seek the counsel and funding of their home governments and employers.
Students who seek financial assistance from private providers should begin their search for funds as soon as possible, as many require applications by October or November for enrollment the following August. For more information on international funding, students should visit http://www.law.msu.edu/finaid/intl_students.html.
Students should also seek the advice of their local EducationUSA office. EducationUSA is a division of the State Department of the federal government, and almost every country in the world has an EducationUSA office. The staff of these offices are hired with the purpose of providing U.S.-bound foreign students with information about home-country funding opportunities, as well as living expense grants and other resources.
Possible funding sources and search resources include the following:
- Employers (law firms, companies, government agencies, and universities)
- Government and private scholarships (Fulbright, Open Society Institute, Ford Foundation, Edmond S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program, Amideast, DAAD, BAEF, SOROS, and Rotary International)
- Loan programs in home countries
- The following U.S.-sponsored loan programs are available to U.S. citizens and permanent residents: Stafford Loans, Law Access Loans, Law Student Loans, and MI-Loans.
- The Global Student Loan Corporation offers a special educational loan program for non-permanent U.S. residents or citizens.
- PEP, LAWEXCEL, and PLATO are U.S.-sponsored loan programs available to international students who have a U.S. citizen or permanent resident as a cosigner.
- The P.E.O. International Peace Scholarships (IPS) Fund provides scholarships for international women students pursuing graduate studies in the United States and Canada.
- The American Association of University Women (AAUW) offers fellowships to non-U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
- The Inter-American Foundation funds fellowships for students from Latin America and the Caribbean who have a specific interest in the issues of poverty and development.
- The Institute for International Education (IIE) website is a clearinghouse for information on a large number of scholarships and fellowships available to non-U.S. students.
- Foundation Center has a free, online tutorial for students seeking scholarships and fellowships in the United States.
- The United States Information Agency can also provide assistance in locating sponsoring institutions.
- International students who are interested in internships at law firms can learn more through the American Bar Association's International Legal Exchange Program (ILEX).
Financial assistance through the federal government is only open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.