A law school education may well be the largest investment in a student's life.
Financial Aid at Tulane Law
The Law School Financial Aid Office has many functions, among the most important of which is getting funds (loans, scholarship and/or federal work-study eligibility) to Tulane law students as painlessly as possible. More importantly, we try to make sure that Tulane law students are informed students--able to make mature and responsible decisions about the amount of educational loans they can afford, and to examine the worthiness of making immediate personal sacrifices to keep the amount of educational debt as low as possible.
Students are encouraged to talk with the Law School administration and faculty about the value of a Tulane legal education and likely income after graduation, and with the staff of the Law Financial Aid Office about the variety of repayment options. Students are also urged to gather together as many family resources as possible and to live as frugally as possible during law school in order to minimize the amount they must borrow.
If you are offered admission to the Law School, we will inform you of the maximum amount of educational loan eligibility available, after scholarship funds and outside resources are determined, and after the processing results of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) are received. This is not a guarantee of loan funding. Nor is it an endorsement of borrowing every dollar available: to the contrary, we are very concerned that applicants be aware of the effect that their borrowing decisions will have on their future standard of living. We hope you take the opportunity to carefully consider the costs and benefits of borrowing before you enroll in any law school.
For more information on the cost of attendance, please visit the Cost of Attendance page.
Credit Reports
We recommend that students obtain a copy of their credit report at least once each year, from one of the agencies listed below. Credit-based loans require clean credit reports, and some state bar authorities will use credit reports as one criterion for bar admission.
The Federal Trade Commission reports that: “A recent amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months.”
Three large credit reporting agencies (listed below) (and a number of smaller agencies) may provide information to lenders if you apply for a credit-based educational loan (such as a private loan or Federal Graduate PLUS Loan).
Equifax
800.685.1111; www.equifax.com
Experian/TRW
800.682.7654, 800.392.1122, 800.422.4879 or 888.397.3742; www.experian.com
Transunion
800.888.4213 or 312.408.1400; www.tuc.com
If your report contains negative financial information (in error or not), the loan may be denied. We advise you to obtain a copy of at least one of your credit reports for your own review. It is important that you discover problems early so you have time to make corrections (see the Fair Credit Reporting Act for technical requirements www.chamberofcommerce.org/what-is-the-fair-credit-reporting-act) or begin the process of repairing any damage to your credit rating. Tulane is unable to replace "denied" loans with other sources of aid, so it is critical for students to know whether their credit history will support their planned borrowing.
