Financial Aid and Costs for LLM Students

Iowa's ability to provide financial aid for LLM students is limited. Tuition waivers are not possible. The chief financial support the College provides is to hire LLM students as quarter-time research assistants (10 hours per week for a total of 300 hours over the fall and spring semesters). In addition to wages, the position entitles the out-of-state student to pay tuition at the in-state rate, which is a substantial savings. A limited number of scholarships are also available to LLM students.

To apply for research assistantships and scholarships simply indicate on your LLM application that you need financial support to attend. Whether or not you are applying for financial aid, for visa purposes all international students must also fill out the section of the application entitled "Financial Statement for International Students." Because of the limited nature of our aid, we encourage you to look aggressively for funding elsewhere. International students should consider applying for such U.S. programs as Fulbright, the Muskie Program for countries of the former Soviet Union, or the Ron Brown Fellowships for Eastern Europe, as well as pursuing funding possibilities within their own countries, with international bodies, and with private foundations like Ford, Soros, Rotary International, the Asia Foundation, and the American Association of University Women. Students whose home universities participate in the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) may be able to come under that program without paying more tuition than their home university charges.

The Thelma L. Schaffer Scholarship, the Carroll Sample Scholarship and the International Programs Scholarship are available to academically outstanding and otherwise deserving international and comparative law students. These scholarships are a modest award that do not cover the complete costs of tuition.