Tagged: law

How 3Ls Can Achieve “Low Debt, High Gain” (Workshop Series)

Beginning in April, the Financial Aid Office will be offering the “Low Debt, High Gain” workshop series designed to give some practical, real world advice for our 3L students as they begin their transition from Yale Law School. And while each workshop is individual, the most benefit will come if you participate in all three because, as a series, they have been designed to build on one another.

The workshops will be held on consecutive Mondays beginning April 2 from 12:10:-1:00 p.m. in Room 128. We start off on April 2nd with Lori Moore, Director of Financial Literacy for the Access Group. Some of you may have loans held by the Access Group and many of you may know them as the people who brought you the Need Access financial aid application each year. Lori will kick off the series by providing an overview of loan repayment – the various plans you as the borrower can choose from, understanding who holds your loan and who is “servicing” it, as well as your rights and responsibilities as a borrower.

Once Lori has brought you up to speed on loan repayment and options, it’s time to see how COAP then coordinates with your repayment plan. On April 9th, Associate Dean Asha Rangappa and myself will present “Coping Through COAP” which will answer all the basic questions on how COAP awards are determined, what loans are covered, how and when to make application, as well as deal with the COAP intricacies of spouses, dependents, clerkships and assets.

Finally, now that Workshop 1 and 2 has sorted out all your loan repayment, it’s time to move onto larger fiscal issues you will face. That’s where financial planner John Caserta comes in with his workshop on April 16th entitled “Your Financial Future Starts Now”. John, a Yale college alum, has been offering this workshop to YLS students for a number of years and it has always been well received. John uses the analogy of “building your financial castle” to talk about personal spending plans, investment and insurance basics, understanding employee benefit packages and even focuses on the need to start thinking about your retirement (before you have even graduated !!!).

Even more incentive to attend- since the workshops are at lunchtime there will be food (probably pizza) – as well as some home baked dessert treats courtesy of the Financial Aid staffs’ kitchens.

As I mentioned the workshops are designed for 3Ls getting ready to leave YLS but are absolutely open for any 1L and 2L students who wish to attend. We also plan to record the sessions and make them available on the Financial Aid website afterward for those whose schedule might not permit participating.

Scholarships to help pay for your law degree…where do I sign?!

This is the time of the year when a variety of firms, companies, and clubs send the Financial Aid Office information about the scholarships they offer. Some of the scholarships are awarded based on where you reside, the field you are interested in, and/or if you are in good standing or as simple as writing a paper. These funds can help pay tuition for the fall semester or spring semester or both.

Why not take advantage of all that is available? Who could pass up “free money”, especially if this money can help pay for your law degree and lessen your student debt? Apply for any of these scholarships now for 2012-2013 financial aid year!

Toward your benefit, at Yale Law, outside scholarships are applied first to reduce loans (up to 50% of your unit loan amount) and second to reduce any institutional funds that were awarded. If you are only borrowing loans to pay for tuition, then the entire amount of the outside scholarship would be applied toward reducing the loans.

Intrigued by a “free money” offer? Then take a look at some of the recent scholarship opportunities that our office has been made aware of:

The Yale Club of New Haven – www.ycnh.org – the scholarships ($3,000 per year) are available through the generosity of the alumni of the Yale Club of New Haven. Scholarships are awarded to full time graduate and professional school students in the spring of their first and/or subsequent years and awarded to residents of the greater New Haven county.

New England Employee Benefits Council (NEEBC) – www.neebc.org – is an organization whose primary function is to advance knowledge and education about issues in the employee benefits field. The intent of this scholarship ($5,000) is to encourage students to consider the employee benefits field for career opportunities.

NPBA Foundation Fitzwater Memorial Scholarship for Second Year Law Students – www.norfolkandportsmouthbar.org – was established in honor of Elizabeth Fitzwater. The Foundation’s mission is to promote the administration to justice, to educate the public about the importance of law in their daily lives and to enhance the image of the legal profession in the community. This scholarship ($1,000) has been set up for those students who intend to practice in the south Hampton Roads area of Virginia.

Information on these and many more outside scholarship opportunities is available directly from the Financial Aid Office – come by to learn more!