Financial Support for Public Interest Students and Alumni

Every year, Golden Gate awards five $5,000 renewable scholarships to new students who have a demonstrated commitment to public service work. In addition to the scholarships, Scholars receive financial support for one full-time summer job with a public interest or government agency. The Public Interest Adviser helps Scholars find suitable placements.

Scholars also have a faculty mentor who provides guidance and insight into public interest issues and careers. Public Interest Law Scholars are expected to participate in public interest activities at the School of Law such as the Public Interest Law Foundation, the law student group that raises funds for summer public interest employment and organizes programs on public interest issues.

To apply for the Public Interest Law Scholars Program, submit the regular J.D. application along with a list of public interest activities in which you have participated and a two-page (double-spaced) essay describing your interest in and commitment to public interest law. The essay should include a statement about how you plan to pursue public interest law during and after law school. Students who qualify for federal work-study may apply to this unique program, which permits students to gain valuable paid work experience with government agencies and public interest organizations that cannot afford to pay students. Since 1991, Golden Gate University School of Law has provided financial support for alumni who are working in low-paying public interest positions. Find out more about LRAP. Golden Gate provides financial support for students to attend national and local conferences and events. In 2003, the school paid for five students to travel to Washington DC to attend the Equal Justice Works Conference. We also paid for a student to attend the 2003 National Workers' Rights Conference in Washington DC, and we provide financial and administrative support for many other events and offerings both locally and nationally.

The San Francisco Bay Area offers a plethora of opportunities for connecting with progressive attorneys. We frequently host events such as the National Lawyers Guild Alternative Law Day, the Alliance for Justice Student Action Campaign, and the California Environmental Law Symposium. PILF is a student organization that raises money and disburses as grants to continuing students who are engaged in public-interest work. E-mail PILF for more information.