Students who are seeking financial assistance at Harvard Law School should plan to contribute all of their own personal resources toward meeting their educational expenses before the Law School will provide any of its own financial assistance. In addition, while the federal government considers all graduate students to be independent of their parents when determining eligibility for federal loan assistance, Harvard Law School always considers parent resources when determining eligibility for its need-based institutional grant and loan funds. There is an exception to this policy for students who turn 29 on or before September 1 of the academic year for which they are applying for aid.