Harvard Law School offers two types of applications for aid. You can apply as a “need-based aid applicant” to be considered for HLS Grant assistance, or you can apply as a “loan only applicant” which will greatly simplify the application process but exclude you from consideration for Grant aid. For “loan only” applicants only student information is required; no parental financial information is required or collected.
HLS collects and analyzes parent financial data for all “need-based aid applicants” (applicants for Grant aid) who have not reached the age of 29 on or before September 1 of the applicable academic year. You can read more about why we determine parent financial resources here. HLS requires student aid applicants to provide financial information regarding all parents, including biological parents, step-parents, adoptive parents, and legal guardians, even in cases where parents are divorced. After documents are submitted, the HLS Financial Aid Committee will determine the appropriate information that will be incorporated into the Parent Resources. We do not typically consider step-parents’ financial resources and will adjust the financial data of remarried parents to exclude step-parent income and 50% of the combined assets.
Because the amount of information we require to determine the Parent Resources can be significant, we offer some general guidelines below to help you determine whether to apply as a “need-based aid applicant” or as a “loan only applicant.” Please bear in mind that our need analysis looks at dozens of specific data points for a typical family. It is not possible to reliably estimate resources from one or two data points. That being said, virtually all recipients of HLS Grant assistance come from families whose combined income from all sources is less than $180,000. Of students whose families reported more than $180,000 in income for the year, those receiving Grant assistance usually had one or more siblings in college, qualified for a substantial age-based adjustment, or came from families who reported special circumstances meriting significant adjustments to the need analysis formula. Overall, less than 5% of aid applicants from families with more than $180,000 in income qualify for Grant assistance, and in these cases the amount of Grant aid awarded is generally small.
One significant factor in determining Grant eligibility is whether you have any siblings in college or graduate school. We first calculate a parent resource figure based on the financial data provided, and then divide that figure by the number of full-time college or graduate school students in the parents’ family. Consequently, students with siblings in college or graduate school may be more likely to qualify for grant assistance at an income in the upper range described above than students who will have no siblings in college or graduate school. In fact, it is unusual for students with no siblings in college or graduate school and parental income in excess of $150,000 to qualify for HLS Grant assistance. For those aid applicants who have younger siblings in high school or grade school, an automatic adjustment is built into the need analysis formula to reflect the family’s living expenses and college savings needs for those siblings.
Please note that HLS only adjusts the parent resources for enrolled siblings under the age of 29. This is in line with our policy about independence which starts when a student is age 29 on or before Sept 1 of the academic year for which they are applying for aid.
Another significant factor is whether you qualify for an age-based adjustment to your parent resources. HLS calculates reduced parent resources for students between the ages of 26 and 28. This can increase your eligibility for Grant assistance. If you qualify for an age-based parent resource reduction and fall within the guidelines below, you should consider applying for Grant assistance, if only to allow us to calculate a baseline parent resource for you.
If you do not have any siblings in college, you should consider applying as a “need-based aid applicant” for Grant assistance if:
- your parents’ total family income (not the AGI on your tax return, but your actual gross income from all sources before deductions) is less than $180,000 per year and
- your parents’ net worth (from all investments excluding savings in qualified retirement accounts, plus home equity, plus other savings, trusts, business value, and real estate equity) falls within the range typical for the HLS Grant recipient population, which is $0 to $500,000
- please note that if your parents’ income exceeds $150,000 there is a low likelihood that you will qualify for HLS Grant assistance
If you have siblings in college, you should consider applying as a “need-based aid applicant” for Grant assistance if:
- your parents’ total family income (not the AGI on your tax return, but your actual gross income from all sources before deductions) is less than $250,000 per year and
- your parents’ net worth (from all investments excluding savings in qualified retirement accounts, plus home equity, plus other savings, trusts, business value, and real estate equity) falls within the range typical for the HLS Grant recipient population, which is $0 to $500,000
- please note that if your parents’ income exceeds $180,000 there is a low likelihood that you will qualify for HLS Grant assistance
Even with above guidelines, it is not easy to estimate the likelihood that you will qualify for Grant assistance from only gross income and total net worth. Our need analysis process considers dozens of specific data points. Generally, however, the lower the income and assets, the more likely the parental resources is to fall within a range that allows us to offer you Grant aid. Families with incomes approaching $180,000 are much less likely than those with incomes of less than $60,000 to qualify for Grant aid. Although assets are a relatively smaller factor than income in the need analysis formula, families with very high net worth are less likely to qualify for substantial Grant aid than those at similar incomes with moderate net worth. Some families with very low income and very high net worth may qualify for Grant assistance.
Finally, student income and assets are also a factor in how we award Grant assistance. If you (the student) have significant income or high assets, these are considered as part of your student contribution in our evaluation process, and will reduce the level of Grant assistance you are offered.
Here are some overview statistics on our Grant recipient population:
- Approximate median total income for Grant recipient families: $95,000
- Approximate median total net worth for Grant recipient families (from all sources as described above): $175,000
| IF THE ANNUAL PARENT INCOME IS … | THEN THE APPROXIMATE MEDIAN TOTAL PARENT RESOURCE ASSESSMENT IS: | AND THE APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGE OF APPLICANTS TYPICALLY ELIGIBLE FOR HLS GRANT UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES IS: |
|---|---|---|
| less than $60,000 | $2,000 | 90% |
| between $60,000 and $120,000 | $12,000 | 70% |
| between $120,000 and $180,000 | $28,000 | 40% |
| greater than $180,000 | $50,000 | less than 5% |
You are welcome to contact our office if you wish to discuss the specifics of your situation with a member of our staff.