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Financial Aid Menu

Understanding Your Aid Package

The Law Financial Aid Office processes applications in chronological order, based on the date received. After reviewing and processing your application, we will send a notification email to your UChicago email account when your aid package is ready to review in your my.UChicago portal > My Financial Aid on the right-hand menu. The email will list your aid awards/offers and the quarters in which the funds will be available to you. 

Cost of Attendance

A standard cost of attendance is determined by the Law Financial Aid Office each academic year for all degree programs at the Law School and will be outlined in the aid package notification email. The cost of attendance sets the maximum amount of financial aid a student can receive in a given academic year and is a total based on:

  • The actual tuition rate for your program, the quarterly Student Services Fee, and the one-time Lifetime Transcript Fee
  • Average costs for living expenses (housing and food), textbooks, personal expenses (including the USHIP health insurance premium), transportation, and federal student loan fees 

Responding To Your Financial Aid Package Notification

Your aid package notification email outlines your financial assistance for the relevant academic year, as well as any next steps you need to take in the "My Financial Aid" section of your my.UChicago portal and/or at studentaid.gov. We encourage you to complete the items listed on your my.UChicago portal checklist and in your aid package notification email as soon as possible, but no later than three (3) weeks prior to the start of the Autumn quarter (or Winter/Spring, if not borrowing for Autumn quarter). 

Your loan funds will not disburse to your student account if you have not accepted your loan offer(s) and/or completed the required documents listed on your package notification email and my.UChicago portal checklist. You do not have to take any action on your loan offers should you choose not to use some or all of your offered loan funding. A federal loan that has not yet disbursed will not incur interest charges or penalties.

Law School Scholarship Funding

Scholarship funding is automatically accepted on your behalf; you do not have to do anything to finalize this funding.

Accept or Decline Unsubsidized Loan Offer

You can accept, decline, and/or reduce your Unsubsidized Loan offer directly in your my.UChicago portal > My Financial Aid on the right-hand menu > Accept/Decline Awards. Go into the applicable Financial Aid Year, click the "Accept" or "Decline" button next to the Unsubsidized Loan offer, update the "Accepted" amount if you choose to borrow less than what was offered, then click "Submit".

Complete the Graduate PLUS Loan Application

Students cannot accept their Graduate PLUS Loan offer directly in my.UChicago but you may decline your Grad PLUS loan offer in the portal if you choose not to borrow this loan.

Students who wish to apply for the Graduate PLUS Loan are required to complete the Graduate PLUS Loan Application at studentaid.gov. A credit check (valid for 180 days) is required for the Graduate PLUS Loan and is immediately run by the Department of Education when you submit the PLUS Loan Application. You can indicate in the application whether you want to borrow your full eligible amount per your aid package or a lesser amount. If you want to borrow a lesser amount, be sure to indicate the dates for which you want to borrow the loan.

The Financial Aid Office will receive notification of your PLUS Application submission within a few days and at that time, we will process the loan on your aid package on your behalf and you'll receive a notification email from our office.

Complete Master Promissory Notes and Entrance Counseling

If you are a first-time Federal Direct loan borrower, you must complete Master Promissory Notes (MPNs) and Entrance Counseling in order to receive federal student loan funding. Entrance Counseling as a graduate/professional student only needs to be completed once, and each MPN is valid for ten years.

If you previously borrowed Federal Direct student loan funding as a graduate/professional student, whether at the University of Chicago or at another institution, you usually not need to complete a new MPN or Entrance Counseling. If you do, you will receive an email notification from the Financial Aid Office once your loan has been accepted and processed.

Changes to Your Aid Package

From time to time, the Law School Financial Aid Office may make changes to (aka "revise") your aid package, whether by student request or to align with federal regulations. The reasons we may revise your aid package can include modifying loan amounts to account for other aid or changes in enrollment, accepting PLUS Loan funding on your behalf once you have completed a PLUS Loan Application, updating the source of institutional scholarship funding to come from donor funds, or increasing/returning loan funding upon student request. 

Anytime a revision is made to your aid package, you will receive an automated email from our office alerting you that a change has been made. Most revisions will not require student follow up but if you need to take specific action on your aid package, you will receive a separate email from our office with more information about next steps.

Your Obligations in Regards to Your Aid Package

Once your aid package has been released, you must notify the Law School Financial Aid Office of any changes in your enrollment or external financial resources.

Enrollment Requirements

The Law School requires all JD and LLM students to be in residence, full-time, for nine (9) quarters of no fewer than nine (9) credit hours per quarter. Dual degree students can find more information about enrollment and residency requirements on the Dual Degree Planning website.

To ensure your financial aid disburses in a timely manner for each quarter, we recommend being enrolled in at least nine (9) credits at least three (3) weeks prior to the start of each quarter.

Report Outside Financial Assistance

It is your responsibility to report any outside assistance (grants, tuition assistance, scholarships, outside financial resources, etc) you have or will receive to the Financial Aid Office if it isn't already listed on your aid package. You can report this assistance via your my.UChicago portal by navigating to "My Financial Aid" and clicking "Report Aid from Other Sources".

If the University receives external funding on your behalf, it will be processed by the Bursar's Office and subsequently added to your financial aid package by our office. You'll receive an automated aid package change notification email from the Financial Aid Office once the funding has been added to your aid package.

We may need to adjust your financial aid package based on the aid reported or received on your behalf. 

Reporting Enrollment Changes

Contact the Financial Aid Office if you expect to have any enrollment changes after a quarter has started, as that could impact your financial aid. You should also contact the Dean of Students Office if you have any questions about the process for beginning a leave of absence or withdrawing from the Law School.

Tuition Bill and Refunds

Tuition, fees, and other charges are billed on a quarterly basis by the Bursar's Office and are reflected both on your University student account and the advance tuition bill you will receive from the Bursar's Office each quarter. You can view tuition billing dates and information about the billing process on the Bursar's website.

Scholarships and loan funding will be reflected on your advance tuition bill for each quarter. Financial aid is disbursed (paid out) to your student account to cover tuition and other eligible fees for a given quarter approximately ten (10) days prior to the start of the quarter, as long as you have completed all necessary aid steps. If your aid application is incomplete and/or loan documents remain outstanding, your funds will not disburse to your student account. Review your checklist in your my.UChicago portal or contact the Financial Aid Office if you believe your application is incomplete. 

Your advance tuition bill from the Bursar's Office will be credited with the estimated amount of your federal student loan funding and will not reflect deductions for origination/loan fees.

Any remaining balance due per your bill and/or student account must be paid with the Bursar's Office or covered with additional financial aid. Student accounts not paid by the deadline stated by the Bursar's Office are subject to late payment fees. Contact the Financial Aid Office if you have any questions about your financial aid package, and contact the Bursar's Office if you have any questions about your balance due or your bill.

Availability of Funds/Refunds

Financial aid is disbursed to your student account at the beginning of each quarter in which you are enrolled. Refunds resulting from excess disbursed financial aid are generally available beginning the first week of the quarter, provided you are enrolled at least nine (9) credit hours. At the beginning of each quarter, you may need to support yourself until your excess financial aid becomes available as a refund. 

We encourage all students to enroll in direct deposit and update your physical address in your my.UChicago portal. The Bursar has more information about enrolling in my.UChicago direct deposit on their Refunds website and the University Registrar has more information about updating your physical address on their Student Profile Information website.

If you will receive a stipend or other University-sourced income during your time at UChicago, you will receive more information from the awarding University office about setting up direct deposit and updating your physical address in Workday, the University's human resources system.

Financial Responsibility Agreement and Refund Policy

The Financial Responsibility Agreement outlines policies and procedures governing the management of your student account at the University of Chicago. Students are required to confirm their review and agreement to these polices once during their academic career. Failure to review and agree will result in restriction of future registration. You will be requested to complete this checklist item with the Bursar's Office in your my.UChicago portal.