Merit Scholarships for Entering J.D. Students
Dean’s Scholarships are offered to highly qualified students in each entering first-year class. These scholarships vary in number and amount each year, and are renewable under the terms outlined below. As part of the Dean’s Scholarship program, we also offer at least two Dean’s Teach for America Scholarships. The terms and criteria for the Teach for America Scholarships are the same as those for the Dean’s Scholarship program, except that only current or former Teach for America corps members will be considered. Every applicant accepted for admission to the J.D. program is automatically considered for available merit scholarships, and no additional application is required.
Criteria for Entering Student Scholarships:
Every J.D. applicant accepted for admission is automatically considered for available merit scholarships, and no additional application is required. The following factors are considered when awarding merit scholarships:
- Applicant's academic record, including previous undergraduate and/or graduate institutions and test scores
- Applicant's letters of recommendation
- Applicant's demonstrated interest in obtaining an advanced degree as evidenced by the personal statement and other application materials
- Other relevant qualifications
Merit scholarships awarded to entering full-time J.D. students, including Dean’s Scholarships and Dean’s Teach for America Scholarships, are renewable for all three years of the J.D. program, provided the student maintains continuous full-time enrollment and is in good academic standing. For part-time students, scholarships are for all four years of the J.D. program, provided the student maintains a continuous part-time course load and is in good academic standing. If the student transfers from the part-time program to the full-time program, the scholarship will expire upon graduation from the JD program or at the conclusion of the fourth year, whichever comes first.
Scholarships are paid in two equal installments each year, one each for the fall and spring semester. No payment is made for summer enrollment. The scholarship will be applied to the student’s university financial account.
Dean's Award Ceremony
The Dean’s Awards Ceremony for 2022-2023 will be announced January 2023. During this ceremony, the Law Center will recognize student achievement in a number of areas.
Outside Scholarship Sources (JD & LLM)
All scholarship criteria and selection determinations are set by each individual donor (not the Law Center).
Applicants are encouraged to search for outside scholarships with individual organizations, sororities or fraternities, social clubs, religious or business organizations, employers of a parent, spouse or friend, foundations, town or city clubs, community organizations and civic groups such as the American Legion, YMCA, 4H Club, Elks, Kiwanis, Jaycees or girl & boy scouts. Any organization connected with your field of interest. Other options:
Entering Students Opportunities
New scholarships for entering students will be added when received.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (The CB) announces Sept. 1 for a new loan repayment program benefitting recently appointed peace officers who have student loan debt.
Fellowships/Internships
All scholarship criteria and selection determinations are set by each individual donor (not the Law Center).
Law Center Scholarships
Outside Scholarships (JD & LLM) - All scholarship criteria and selection determinations are set by each individual donor (not the Law Center).
- DRI Law Student Diversity Scholarship $5,000-$10,000, DRI’s annual Law Student Diversity Scholarship program is open to rising (2022-2023) second-and third-year law students who come from historically marginalized groups,.
Deadline: June 30, 2022
- National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Law Foundation SAIL Scholarship $7,500, The SAIL Scholarship is a scholarship awarded to an individual who will be a 2L starting the 2022 Fall Semester (current 1L students should apply) who has outstanding professional promise and leadership potential. Deadline: by 5:00 p.m. EST on June 30, 2022
- Trial LawHER Scholarship $10,000 scholarship to be given to a female rising 3L who aspires to become a plaintiff trial law. All law students who fit the above description are invited to apply. If students need a resource on where to begin in their essay, please direct them to: https://milestoneseventh.com/settlement-planning/ Deadline: July 3, 2022
- Spouses of Houston Barristers Founded in 1957, the Spouses of Houston Barristers (SHB), is a non-profit organization of attorneys’ wives dedicated to enhancing the legal profession through educational, civic, cultural, and social services to the community by providing financial assistance to 2Lsecond & third year ethnic minority law students attending Houston Law Schools. Deadline: July 8, 2022
- White & Case 2L First Generation Professional Scholarship (FGP) $25,000 White & Case’s FGP Scholarship is designed to support socioeconomic balance for first generation professionals looking to gain experience in a legal setting and to complement their academic success. Deadline: July 8, 2022
Writing Competitions
All award criteria and selection determinations are set by each individual donor (not the Law Center).
- Nebraska College of Law – Nebraska Governance and Technology Center: 2022 Student Paper Competition $1,000 - $4,000, The competition continues to encourage students to explore “how technology regulates.” Technology regulates human conduct in many ways. Technologies can be designed to enable or prohibit certain types of activity directly. They may be used instrumentally to monitor or control activity. Digital platforms’ content moderation decisions have effects on our information economy and democratic policy. Changing technologies can support, undermine, or confound existing regulations and regulatory norms, for instance by decentralizing currency or eroding the distinction between longstanding categories such as employees and independent contractors. Deadline: June 30, 2022
- American Bar Association (ABA) Justice Section William W. Greenhalgh Student Writing Competition $2,500, This Competition is sponsored by Criminal Justice (“Section”) of the American Bar Association (“ABA”), (the “Sponsor”). The goal of the Competition is to encourage law students to become involved in the Section. It is also intended to attract students to the Criminal Justice practice field, and to encourage scholarship in this field. Deadline: July 1, 2022 by 11:59 p.m. CST
- American University Washington College of Law – The Theodore Tannenwald Jr. Foundation for Excellence in Tax Scholarship $1,500-$5,000, Named for the late Tax Court Judge Theodore Tannenwald, Jr., and designed to perpetuate his dedication to legal scholarship of the highest quality, the Tannenwald Writing Competition is open to all full- or part-time law school students, undergraduate or graduate. Deadline: July 11, 2022 by 9:00 p.m. EDT
- 2022 James E. Beckley Securities Arbitration and Law Competition $500-$1,000, This writing competition for students interested in Securities Arbitration and Securities Law sponsored by The Public Investors Advocate Association (PIABA) Foundation. Deadline: September 16, 2022 by 5:00 p.m. EST
University of Houston Law Center
Financial Aid & Scholarship Office
4104 Martin Luther King Blvd
Houston, Texas 77204-6060
(713) 743-2269
School code 003652
lawfinaid@uh.edu
