Summer Stipends
Each summer, Vanderbilt Law students receive school funded summer stipends to support their work in unpaid legal positions.
Public Interest Financial Support
Vanderbilt offers substantial financial support for students pursuing public interest work during and after law school. Summer stipends are available to students pursuing unpaid summer work at nonprofit and government agencies.
First-year students may apply for Garrison Social Justice Scholar Awards, which provide students committed to or exploring social justice and public interest careers with summer stipends and scholarship support during their second and third years of law school. Post-graduate fellowships funded by the law school are available through the George Barrett Social Justice Fellowship and the Gideon’s Promise Law School Partnership Program.
Vanderbilt Law also offers a Loan Repayment Assistance Program to graduates practicing in the public interest. In partnership with the Vanderbilt Law Legal Aid Society, summer bar study stipends are available to third year students to offset cost of living expenses while studying for the bar.
Garrison Social Justice Law Fund and Scholars
The Amy and Frank Garrison Social Justice Law Fund supports Vanderbilt Law students providing services to or for the general benefit of individuals who may have been disenfranchised, dispossessed, discriminated against, or economically disadvantaged.
Each year, the Law School will select at least one Garrison Social Justice Scholar from among current first-year J.D. students who apply.
Loan Repayment Assistance/Forgiveness
Public interest law practice is rewarding, challenging, and meaningful. Many law graduates need to repay student loans, which can provide an additional challenge to taking public service employment upon graduation.
To help ease the burden for public interest graduates, Vanderbilt Law offers a Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP), which pays 100% of annual loan repayment obligations for up to 10 years for qualifying graduates who earn less than $75,000 and have enrolled in an Income Based Loan Repayment Plan eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
The Public Interest Office also provides guidance on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and other forms of educational debt relief.
Fellowship Support
The Public Interest Office helps students identify and apply for legal fellowships that support their career interests, such as the Equal Justice Works and Skadden Fellowships. Vanderbilt Law also funds post-graduate public interest fellowships through the Barrett Social Justice Fellowship and Gideon’s Promise, which enables students to secure permanent employment as public defenders. Additional fellowship information can be found below: