Guaranteed $20,000 to Students Who are First in Family to Graduate College
Suffolk University Law School is excited to announce the First Generation College Student Scholarship. This award will guarantee at least $20,000 in aid to all incoming students who start a JD program at Suffolk Law and (a) are first generation college students and (b) have received their undergraduate degree from one of these colleges or universities:
- Bentley University
- Boston College
- Boston University
- Bridgewater State University
- Emerson College
- Fitchburg State University
- Framingham State University
- Harvard University
- John Jay College of Criminal Justice
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Northeastern University
- Regis College
- Rhode Island College
- Roger Williams University
- Salem State University
- Simmons University
- Stonehill College
- Suffolk University
- Tufts University of Arts & Sciences
- University Of Connecticut, Storrs
- University Of Massachusetts-Amherst
- University Of Massachusetts-Boston
- University Of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
- University Of Massachusetts-Lowell
- University Of Rhode Island
- Wellesley College
- Westfield State University
- Worcester State University
Details
- Eligible students must be first generation college students (generally defined as someone whose parents/guardians have not completed a 4-year college degree) and must have received their undergraduate degree from one of the identified colleges and universities.
- All eligible students who are admitted to start a JD program at Suffolk Law will be awarded at least $20,000 per year to apply towards tuition at Suffolk Law.
- Students with GPAs and LSAT scores at or above Suffolk Law’s medians may be awarded more than $20,000.
- No additional application is needed. Students will be automatically awarded the scholarship when they are admitted to Suffolk Law.
- The $20,000 award will be renewed each year that students are at Suffolk Law so long as they remain in good academic standing.
- Additional terms and conditions apply.
Background
Suffolk Law launched the First Generation College Student Scholarship to make law school more affordable for students who demonstrate the ability to succeed in law school but who may not otherwise receive merit-based scholarships. We recognize that standardized testing and traditional merit-based scholarship models can be barriers to entry to law school and the legal profession for students from nontraditional backgrounds, and this scholarship is designed to address those barriers.
The First Generation College Student Scholarship is just one of the efforts undertaken this year by Suffolk Law to expand access to law school to students from nontraditional backgrounds. Suffolk Law was founded in 1906 with a goal of expanding access to law school. At the time, that meant creating an evening JD program to allow students who could not afford to quit their day jobs to earn a law degree. Now, more than 100 years later, Suffolk Law has made additional efforts to make law school more accessible, including:
- Full-tuition early binding decision scholarships to graduates of specified historically Black colleges and universities.
- Flexible degree programs that allow students to earn a law degree in nontraditional ways: accelerated JD, hybrid online JD, full and part-time JD programs, and dual degree programs.
- Creating a new dean of diversity, equity and inclusion to oversee efforts by Suffolk Law to create a welcoming community where students from all races, ethnicities and backgrounds can thrive.
- Launching a new First Generation Law Student Association, which joins more than a dozen student affinity groups that bring together diverse students with academic support, networking and mentoring.