Scholarship Retention Information
At time of admissions, admitted students will be reviewed for merit scholarships. All merit scholarships are renewable for the second and third years of law school provided the recipient maintains a cumulative grade point average of 2.8 in their legal studies. Scholarship renewal review is conducted at the end of the academic year. Students whose scholarship is not renewed may request to have their scholarship reinstated at any time based upon earning the cumulative 2.8 grade point average in their legal studies.
Below is the ABA Consumer Information for Scholarship Retention at Pitt Law:
| Students Matriculating In | Number Entering with Conditional Scholarships | Number Whose Conditional Scholarship have since been reduced or eliminated |
| 2021-2022 | 88 | 6 |
| 2020-2021 | 74 | 7 |
| 2019-2020* | 69 | 0* |
*In 2019-2020, the conditional scholarship requirement of maintaining a 2.8 GPA requirement was waived for all students due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pitt Law Scholarships
Approximately 70 percent of the student body receives scholarship funds from the School of Law in the form of merit or need-based scholarship awards. The Law School offers various merit scholarships at the time of admissions. Some scholarship require an additional application and others are based on the materials submitted in your admissions application. If admitted, you will be emailed any scholarship application that requires additional materials.
Dean's Scholarships
Pitt Law offers scholarship for academic merit to incoming first year students. There is no application necessary for merit scholarships. Admitted students are automatically considered for merit scholarships on the basis of past academic performance as documented in their admissions materials. Students admitted prior to February 1st earning a high LSAT score of 161 or better and an undergraduate cumulative grade point average of 3.4 (on a 4.0 scale) are guaranteed the Dean's Scholarship. All admitted students are reviewed for consideration for a merit scholarship. Students awarded a merit scholarship will be notified in writing with their admit letter. The minimum award amount starts at $10,000 per academic year with two equal payments of $5,000 per term.
Merit scholarships are renewable as long as a student maintains a 2.8 cumulative GPA, or better in their legal studies. Merit scholarship can only be applied to your tuition at Pitt Law. If you are attending another school or a study abroad program, your scholarship will be placed on hold and reinstated when you return to Pitt Law.
Tuition Scholarships
Pitt Law offers a Tuition Scholarship for diversity/adversity to incoming first year students. There is no separate application necessary for the Tuition Scholarship. Admitted students are automatically considered for the Tuition Scholarship based on the personal statement and/or Supplementary Questionnaire that was included in the admission application material. Students awarded the Tuition Scholarship will be notified in writing with their admit letter. The typical award amount starts at $10,000 per academic year with two equal payments of $5000 per term for those students admitted prior to April 15th.
Diversity/adversity scholarships are renewable for the second and third year of legal studies at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Merit scholarship can only be applied to your tuition at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. If you are attending another school or a study abroad program, your scholarship will be placed on hold and reinstated when your return to the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
Public Interest Scholarship
First year applicants who are U.S. Citizens/Permanent Residents and have a strong commitment to public interest law can apply for the Public Interest Scholarship. The Public Interest Scholarship will be emailed to all admitted students. Based on an evaluation of the application materials provided, the Scholarship Committee is looking for students who possess a strong commitment to the area of public interest. The strength of their commitment will be judged based on their prior work in the area, the ideas they have for work during their legal education and the career they have planned after graduation. The Committee is also looking for students who have done well academically in their undergraduate and/or graduate work.
Awards will be renewed for the second and third years of law school as long as all renewal criteria specified at the time of application are met. When accepting the scholarship offer, recipients must make a moral commitment that they will be dedicated to public service work throughout their legal career.
The Office of Admissions must receive the scholarship application and all supporting documentation by March 15. In order for a completed application to be considered by the Scholarship Committee, the applicant must be admitted to the University of Pittsburgh School of Law; therefore, it is imperative that students apply for admission early in the process.
Questions regarding this scholarship can be addressed to the Office of Admissions by calling (412) 648-1805. For more information about Pitt Law's public interest student organization please visit Pitt Legal Income Sharing Foundation (PLISF).
Irvis Scholarship in Law
This program is designed to address the critical need to recruit and retain African American graduate and professional students, and to ultimately enhance the African American presence in the University. It will provide full in-state tuition to one academically outstanding applicant. The scholarship committee reviews all accepted applicants in the spring and the award will be made prior to our April 15th deposit deadline.