Scholarships & Summer Funding
Squire Patton Boggs Fellowships
For the past 20 years, the law firm Squire Patton Boggs, though its charitable foundation, has provided five fellowship opportunities for public interest students at GW Law and other law schools. All grants will be in the amount of $5,000. If a rising 3L receives a grant, GW will add $1,000 for a total award of $6,000.
The application cycle for these fellowships typically opens in December and ends in late-January.
Joe Brand "Human Rights First" Fellowship
This fellowship is offered exclusively to GW Law students and is named after Joe Brand, a GW Law alumnus.
Sustained Impact Racial Justice Fellowships
There are three organizations that students can apply for through this fellowship program. They are:
- The Lone Star Justice Alliance in Dallas/Austin doing juvenile justice work in minority communities
- The Cincinnati Citizen Complaint Authority doing police-minority community relations work
- The Voting Rights Project of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington, DC
The Law School will nominate only one student for all three placements, and GW law students will compete with applicants from other law schools.
Veterans Justice Fellowship "Swords to Plowshares"
This fellowship is with Swords to Plowshares in San Francisco, addressing justice for veterans. GW law students will compete with nominees from other law schools for this position.
Swords to Plowshares - Veterans Justice Fellowship Application
Summer Funding Overview
Each year, the Law School distributes grants to students working in public interest positions over the summer through the Public Interest Grant Program. The grants are distributed in the amount of $5,000 for those who have completed their first year of law school, or $6,000 for upper-level students.
The application cycle for these grants begins in January, with the deadline being within the first week of April. During the month of January, the Public Interest Director and Program Manager host a summer funding info session to go over all the application details and instructions. You can view the 2024 info session here.
2024 Public Interest Grant Program Application
Equal Justice Foundation (EJF)
This student-run organization raises money and awards stipends to students working in unpaid public interest internships. To be eligible for a stipend, students must volunteer at least 15 hours with EJF. Email [email protected] for more information about volunteer opportunities.
Knowledge in Action Career Internship Fund (KACIF)
This highly competitive program provides grants ranging from $750 to $3,000 to GW undergraduate and graduate students pursuing internships that are necessarily unpaid. Necessarily unpaid internships are typically those with non-profit, governmental, educational and non-governmental organizations that genuinely lack the financial resources to pay salaries or wages to their interns. In order to maximize the number of students who receive funding, grants for internships in the District of Columbia and other U.S. domestic locations typically range from $750 to $1,500, while grants for international internships typically range from $2,000 to $3,000. KACIF also awards travel grants of up to $300 to cover the costs of using public transportation to and from an unpaid internship.
Spring Application Period
- Applications open on November 1 and close on November 15
- Application decisions will be sent via email the third week of December
Summer Application Period
- Applications open on April 1 and close on April 30
- Application decisions will be sent via email the third week of May
Fall Application Period
- Applications open on July 15 and close on August 1
- Application decisions will be sent via email the third week of August
KACIF Information and Application
Additional Scholarship Opportunities
All additional scholarship opportunities are posted in the Job Listings section of CORE. These include scholarships sponsored by law firms, bar associations, professional organizations, and more. To view current scholarship opportunities, go to the "Job Listings" section of CORE, and change the "Type of Job" filter to "Scholarship."