ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship

The American Bar Association (ABA) awards an annual Legal Opportunity Scholarship to first-year law students. The program's mission is to encourage racial and ethnic minority students to apply to law school and to provide financial assistance for them to attend and complete their legal education. The ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship grants $15,000 of financial aid to 10 - 20 incoming diverse law students over their three years in law school. Since its inception, the ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship has benefitted more than 400 students from across the country.

How to Apply

The application period for the 2024 ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund for first-year students entering law school in the fall has closed. The application cycle for 2025 will open on February 1st and close on April 15th. You can submit your application through the ABA LOSF application portal at: https://losf.smapply.io/

LOSF Material Requirements

Please read the application instructions carefully online.

Questions can be sent to marisol.diaz@americanbar.org and jason.ravin@americanbar.org.

Requirements for Eligibility

To be eligible to receive an ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship, an applicant must meet all of the following requirements:

1. The applicant must be an entering, first-year law student in academic year 2024.
2. The applicant must be a member of an underrepresented racial and/or ethnic minority (e.g. Black/African-American, Native American, Hispanic American, Asian/Pacific Islander). Please note: International students are not eligible.
3. Only first-year students beginning law school in this academic year will be eligible for a scholarship.  Law students who have completed one or more semesters or years of law school are not eligible.
4. Applicants who are part-time law students also must be starting law school in this academic year to be eligible.
5. At the time of submission of the application, the applicant must have achieved a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 (on a 4.0 grading scale) at their undergraduate institution.  If the applicant has not completed their undergraduate degree at the time the application is submitted, the applicant must have a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.5 (on a 4.0 grading scale) as of the most recent completed semester.
6. Before receiving scholarship funds, recipients will be required to demonstrate admission to and plans to enroll at an ABA-accredited law school.  Because of the deadline for submitting applications the applicant will have applied to law schools, but may not yet have been admitted to law school.  If the applicant is selected to receive an ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship, the applicant will be required to demonstrate admission to and plans to enroll at an ABA-accredited law school before receiving scholarship funds.  Students who do not enroll or who leave law school after being admitted will be required to return all or a proportional amount of scholarship funds.