Determining Financial Need
Before need-based aid can be awarded, a need analysis calculation must take place. Need is determined by subtracting your resources from your expenses. Any shortfall is your need. The various components of expenses and resources are detailed below.
I. Expenses and Student Budget
Rather than scrutinize the exact amount each student spends on rent, utilities, books, and the like, Stanford University, like other schools, uses an estimated budget that applies to all students. The budget allows for a modest, but not unreasonable, standard of living.
Car expenses, such as automobile payments, insurance, and maintenance, and personal debt, such as credit cards, are not considered a part of the student budget. Students are encouraged to use personal assets or other personal resources to pay off these debts before they enroll at the Law School.
To determine loan eligibility, the Office of Financial Aid uses the following standard single-student cost of attendance:
| Standard Single Student Cost of Attendance | |
|---|---|
| Tuition | $79,779 |
| Housing | 22,533 |
| Food | 7,710 |
| Personal Expenses | 9,135 |
| Books and Supplies | 1,644 |
| Student Services Fee | 1,500 |
| Health Services Fee | 843 |
| Local Transportation | 1,980 |
| Medical Insurance | 8,808 |
| TOTAL | $133,932 |
This budget applies to the majority of Law School students. The exceptions are married students with or without children, students in non-standard academic programs (such as visiting students or joint-degree candidates), and students living off-campus. An incremental allowance towards housing, food, and personal expenses will be added to this standard budget to cover expenses that 1Ls will incur due to an earlier start date during the Autumn 2026 quarter.
II. Resources
As Stanford Law School uses a standard budget to calculate expenses, it must determine individual student need by assessing individual student resources. For tuition fellowship eligibility, these include parents’ contribution, student’s contribution, personal assets, and spouse’s contribution. For loan eligibility, these include student’s contribution, spouse’s contribution, personal assets, academic year earnings, and outside awards.
Your budget, less your available resources, constitutes your need.
1. Parent(s)’ Contribution
Tuition fellowships and loans have different criteria for determining a student’s financial independence from his/her/their parents. In determining loan eligibility, all graduate students are considered independent, and no parental contribution is imputed. In determining tuition fellowship eligibility, we use the student’s age to determine independence. The following dependence rules are in place:
If you are 25 or younger as of September 1, we will take into consideration the full extent of your calculated parental contribution when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance.
If you are 26 as of September 1, we will protect 25% of your calculated parental contribution and use only 75% of that contribution when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance.
If you are 27 as of September 1, we will protect 50% of your calculated parental contribution and use only 50% of that contribution when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance.
If you are 28 as of September 1, we will protect 75% of your calculated parental contribution and use only 25% of that contribution when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance.
If you are 29 or older as of September 1, no parental resources are considered when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance. Therefore, you need not submit any parental financial information to the CSS Profile.
2. Student’s Contribution from Summer Income
In determining tuition fellowship eligibility for all students, any summer earnings over $8,500 will require 57% of the amount over this figure to be considered as a resource.
If you opt not to work during the summer, we will still expect a minimum contribution of $2,000. If you are volunteering for the summer and your organization can document your employment, the minimum contribution from summer earnings may be waived.
For returning students, total summer earnings are determined by taking gross weekly earnings and multiplying by a minimum of ten weeks or up to a maximum of twelve weeks.
A student meeting the 200% poverty guideline and receiving full-tuition fellowship will be impacted in the following way:
- $25,000 or less: No impact to the Need-Based Full-Tuition Fellowship
- $25,001- $30,000: Protection of $8,500 and 5% of the remaining amount
- $30,001- $39,999: Protection of $8,500 and 10% of the remaining amount
- $40,000 and above: Protection of $8,500 and 15% of the remaining amount
3. Student’s Contribution from Assets
In determining tuition fellowship eligibility, a student’s initial assets upon entrance are pro-rated over three years of study. We then divide this adjusted value by three to determine your annual contribution from assets. If assets increase by $5,000 or more during the second year or third year, the higher amount will be used and prorated for the number of years remaining.
Any cash gifts to support your education will be considered a resource. The amount will only reduce your ability to borrow loans.
4. Spouse’s Contribution
If the student is married, or plans to marry during the school year, the earnings of the spouse or spouse-to-be are expected to be available to help meet Law School and living expenses. There are two exceptions: if the spouse is a full-time student, or if the spouse does not work outside the home and the family has a dependent pre-school age child.
In calculating the spouse’s contribution from summer income, any earnings over $8,500 will require 57% of the amount over this figure to be considered a resource. In calculating the nine-month spousal contribution, the Law School assumes that the earnings of a spouse are at least $7,500. This amount is input as a resource whether or not it is actually earned. If a spouse earns over $7,500 during the year, his or her contribution towards the couple’s expenses will be the after-tax earnings less a $28,080 living allowance.
If a student initially provides only estimates of the spouse’s income, the actual amount must be provided once the spouse’s employment has been finalized
5. Outside Awards
Stanford Law School encourages students to obtain outside scholarships. Accordingly, the school’s policy provides students with an incentive to apply for such awards. These awards will not impact tuition fellowship eligibility unless the combination of tuition fellowship, tuition remission, and outside awards exceeds the cost of attendance.
In determining loan eligibility, the full amount of an outside award is considered a student resource and must be reported to the Office of Financial Aid.
III. Adjustments
Generally, law students are eligible to borrow the difference between their initial need and any fellowship granted. However, the Office of Financial Aid will adjust packages as necessary. For example, the amount in tuition remission that a legal assistant or teaching assistant receives is subtracted after calculating fellowship eligibility. The result, (initial need less any fellowship granted and after adjustments) is your net loan eligibility or the amount you are eligible to borrow from the various loan programs.
IV. Revisions
Students are required to report changes or new information concerning their or their parent(s)’ financial situation to Stanford Law School’s Office of Financial Aid in a timely manner. Depending on the circumstances, such information may revise the amount of gift aid. Revisions will only take place when changes affect fellowship eligibility by $1,000 or more. See Reporting Responsibilities and Sanctions section for more information.