March 15, 2027
Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund
Direct application
$5,000/year
25 winners
Eligibility
Major
Law Legal Studies
Education level
Graduate
About this scholarship
Entering first-year law students who are members of underrepresented racial or ethnic groups, demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and have a minimum 2.5 undergraduate GPA may apply for the ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund.
Each recipient receives $5,000 per year for three years of law school, for a total of $15,000. Up to 25 awards are granted annually.
The application portal opens February 1 and closes April 15. Foreign students studying in the United States are not eligible.
Since its inception, the ABA program has encouraged minority students to apply to law school and provided financial support to complete their degrees.
Essay question
What else to submit
- Personal statement of up to 1,000 words
- Official or unofficial undergraduate transcript
- At least two letters of recommendation
- Financial information entered in the application form
- Entering, first-year (1L) J.D. student at an ABA-accredited law school in the upcoming academic year (2L/3L, LLM, and Master's applicants ineligible)
- Demonstrated strong commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
- Minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale (postgraduate GPA may be used to meet this)
- Official or unofficial undergraduate transcript
- Minimum of 2 letters of recommendation (Selection Committee reads up to 4); fewer than 2 deemed incomplete/ineligible
- Financial information entered directly into the application form (no FAFSA or tax-form uploads required)
- U.S. citizens, U.S. residents, undocumented, and DACA students eligible; international students ineligible
- Applied via the Kaleidoscope application portal; cycle typically opens February and closes April (2027 cycle: Feb 1 - April 15, 2027)
- No LSAT/GRE score required; resume should not be uploaded
- Postgraduate GPA may be used to meet the GPA requirement.
- No LSAT/GRE score is required, and applicants should not upload a resume.
- Award is $5,000 per year for three years of law school, subject to continuing eligibility.