Scholarships & Fellowships
MABA is committed to helping our students navigate the high cost of attending law school. The list below includes a number of state and local scholarships and fellowships available to Latina/o law students. Students are encouraged to contact the appropriate school or organization for the most up-to-date information regarding each scholarship or fellowship listed below.
California Bar Foundation Rosenthal Bar Exam Scholarship
The Rosenthal Bar Exam Scholarship Program recognizes outstanding graduating California law students with financial need who are embarking on careers in public service law by providing financial support for costs related to taking the California Bar Exam. Winners will receive California Bar/Bri Law Review Bar Exam review courses and/or $2,000 in cash to help defray fees and related expenses of taking the California Bar Exam.
Deadline: February
Application available at: http://www.calbarfoundation.org/programs/scholarships/rosenthal.html
Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles
The Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles is pleased once again to offer tuition scholarships to law students who have demonstrated a commitment to issues affecting women and/or children. WLALA is an active bar association that seeks to promote the interests of women, and to promote equality and equal opportunity of all people.
Deadline: March
Application available at: http://www.wlala.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=20
California Bar Foundation Public Interest Scholarship
Since 1991, the Foundation has awarded nearly $2.9 million through its scholarship programs. Investing in the next generation of public interest lawyers, the flagship Public Interest Scholarship has benefited more than 550 outstanding law students. The Scholarship helps pay the costs of obtaining a law school education, including tuition, fees, books, and related education expenses. Awards of up to $7,500 recognize law students who demonstrate superior academic achievement, a sustained and extensive commitment to public service, often while overcoming serious personal hardships and obstacles, an intent to pursue a career in public interest law, and financial need.
Deadline: March
Application available at: http://www.calbarfoundation.org/programs/scholarships/lawschool.html
Beverly Hills Bar Foundation Scholarship
Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than one million dollars in scholarships to deserving law students attending UCLA, USC, Loyola, Pepperdine, and Southwestern law schools. Today prominent lawyers, judges, legislators, and community leaders stand among the ranks of scholarship recipients.
The Foundation is expanding its law school scholarship program to outstanding students from other area law schools. Recently, the Foundation initiated an innovative program of "bridge loans" for graduating law students to assist them with living expenses while preparing for the California Bar Exam.
Deadline: March
Application available at: http://www.bhba.org/foundation.htm
Cindy Lopez Scholarship (Loyola Law School Only)
The scholarship is open to currently enrolled 1st and 2nd year day students and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year evening students who demonstrate community service, leadership, and potential to succeed. Applications are available in the Office of Financial Aid.
Deadline: March
Applications are available in the Office of Financial Aid at Loyola Law School.
Mexican American Bar Foundation Scholarship
The Mexican American Bar Foundation is a tax-exempt section 501(c)(3) charitable corporation dedicated to providing financial assistance to men and women of Chicano and Latino heritage who intend to pursue careers in the law. Since 1991, working with minimal overhead, we have awarded over $600,000 in the form of 216 scholarships to 183 individual students attending ABA-accredited law schools in Los Angeles County, including Loyola, Pepperdine, Southwestern, UCLA, and USC. Nearly two-thirds of our scholars are Latinas.
Deadline: April
Application available at: http://www.themabf.org/index.htm
USC's Mexican American Alumni Association (USC Law School Only)
The Mexican American Alumni Association (MAAA) was founded in 1973 to develop programs that provide tuition assistance grants to students attending USC who show a commitment to the Latino community. Since then, the USC MAAA has awarded over $14 million in scholarships to more than 6900 deserving students.
Deadline: April
Application available at: http://sait.usc.edu/maaa/
USC's Rodolfo Montes Scholarship (USC Law School Only)
Dr. Rodolfo Montes was born in Mexico in 1918, the oldest of four children. His father was president of the largest oil company in Mexico, but because of the Revolution his family left the country and eventually settled in Los Angeles. Most of the family fortune was lost during the Depression, and after deciding to pursue a profession to support himself, Rodolfo enrolled in USC’s School of Dentistry. After graduating, Dr. Montes set up practice in East Los Angeles where he was impressed by the challenges and hardships faced by members of the community. In addition to being an important source of free or highly discounted dental service for many of those in need, his practice became a supportive center of the neighborhood in a wider sense. The Dr. Rodolfo Montes Memorial Scholarship was established to honor the spirit of a self-made man who worked hard for his community and who valued the notion of giving people the resources to help themselves.
Dr. Rodolfo Montes Memorial Scholarships are paid in the form of tuition awards. Scholarships are awarded only to USC graduate student nominees who demonstrate a need for financial assistance, who have outstanding academic records and a history of community involvement, and who are enrolled full-time at the Gould School of Law. Preference will be given to those candidates who exemplify leadership, or demonstrate a potential for leadership, within the local Hispanic community.
Deadline: April
Application available at: http://www.usc.edu/schools/GraduateSchool/documents/Fellowship/Montes.pdf
Latina Lawyers Bar Association
The Latina Lawyers Bar Association announces a scholarship program for law students enrolled at a law school in California. The scholarship program will award scholarships to outstanding law students. The scholarship funds may be used towards expenses related to a student’s attendance at a California law school or towards the expenses related to preparation for the California Bar Examination. Preference will be given to Latina law students.
Deadline: May
Application available at: http://www.llbalaw.org/scholarships
California Bar Foundation Diversity Scholarship
Since 1991, the Foundation has awarded more than $2.9 million through its scholarship programs. Launched for the first time in 2008, the Diversity Scholarship seeks to support newly admitted law students from groups historically underrepresented in the legal profession who have committed to attend a California law school. Candidates apply for the Scholarship at the beginning of the summer prior to commencing their law school studies. The Scholarship helps pay the costs of obtaining a law school education, including tuition, fees, books, and related education expenses. Awards of up to $7,500 recognize incoming first year law students with financial need who demonstrate a desire to make a positive impact as a community leader.
Deadline: June
Application available at: http://www.calbarfoundation.org/programs/scholarships/diversity.html
Mexican American Legal Defense & Education Fund Scholarship
Since MALDEF's founding, it has been an organizational hallmark to support the next generation of lawyers who will advance the civil rights of the Latino community. MALDEF's Law School Scholarship Program awards scholarships of varying amounts to several students each year based on their commitment to serve the Latino community through law; their past achievement and potential for achievement; and their financial need.
Deadline: September
Application available at: http://www.maldef.org/leadership/scholarships/index.html
