Brooklyn Law School established the Merit Scholars Program to provide scholarship assistance to entering students from whom we have reason to expect outstanding academic achievement. Prince, Carswell, Richardson, Lisle, Dean’s Merit, and Academic Achievement Scholarships and Centennial Grants are awarded under this program. Awards are based on scholastic accomplishment and demonstrated aptitude for law study. Scholarships are awarded for an academic year. Half of an annual award is applied as credit to a student's fall semester tuition charges, and the balance of the award is applied to spring semester tuition charges. All scholarships are renewable for each subsequent year of matriculation, provided that the student maintains a required cumulative academic rank. For students whose law school academic performance is extraordinary, it is possible to receive a larger merit scholarship after the first year. Timely payment of a merit scholarship deposit secures the award upon entry to the Law School.

Endowed Scholarships: A portion of your merit scholarship may come from the funds of Brooklyn Law School’s endowed scholarships. Each year, we award a number of named scholarships established largely through the generosity of loyal alumni and friends of Brooklyn Law School. While there is no additional financial aid for being named a recipient of such a scholarship, the designation is an important honor that becomes a part of your law school record. Furthermore, recipients can include this honorary award on their resumes.

Each fall semester, a committee of deans and other administrators awards these scholarships. There is no application process. If you are receiving a merit scholarship or need-based grant, you automatically will be considered by the committee. If you receive a named scholarship, we will advise you in the fall.

More information about the Law School’s endowed scholarships is available on BLSConnect.

This scholarship honors Jerome Prince, Brooklyn Law School’s longtime Dean and Professor of Law. Dean Prince’s dedicated service to Brooklyn Law School and the legal community--as teacher, scholar, administrator and public servant--spanned over fifty productive years. As a member of the faculty beginning in 1934, as dean from 1953 to 1971, and as a trustee until 1988, he played a major, enduring role in guiding this school to provide superior academic and professional training. Furthermore, Jerome Prince was considered the preeminent authority on evidence in the State of New York.

This scholarship honors William B. Carswell, a distinguished Justice of the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court who served as dean of Brooklyn Law School from 1945 to 1953. Under Dean Carswell’s leadership, Brooklyn Law School survived the financially difficult post-war years. Enrollment increased dramatically, and the School entered into a new era of great prosperity.

This scholarship honors William Payson Richardson, the co-founder of Brooklyn Law School and its dean from 1901 to 1945.  Dean Richardson was a distinguished legal scholar.  The current, updated edition of his most notable work, Richardson on Evidence, is still a leading text.

This scholarship honors Raymond E. Lisle, Brooklyn Law School’s dean from 1971 to 1977. Dean Lisle was a former Foreign Service Officer who, over a 22-year career, served in the United States Department of State in many capacities, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Director of Relations with Eastern Europe. During his tenure as dean, Brooklyn Law School was accepted as a member of the Association of American Law Schools.

These scholarships are merit-based awards that augment the named scholarships noted above. Their purpose is to provide further recognition and financial assistance to our highest-caliber entering students.

These scholarships are also merit-based awards that augment the named scholarships noted above. Their purpose is to provide further recognition and financial assistance to our highest-caliber entering students.

($5,000, $3,000 full-time/$3,750, $2,250 part-time) 

Brooklyn Law School celebrated its Centennial Anniversary seven years ago. To mark our milestone anniversary, and to emphasize our continuing commitment to attracting the best and brightest students to our school, Brooklyn Law School established an annual Centennial Grant Program in 2001.

($5,500, $3,500, or $1,500 full-time/$4,125, $2,625, $1,125 part-time)

This scholarship is named for two of the Law School’s earliest minority graduates who exemplify the rich tradition of diversity that has characterized the Law School for over a century: Sumner H. Lark, Class of 1916, and Augustin P. Barranco, Class of 1904. This scholarship is awarded to qualified entering minority students.

($5,000 full-time/$3,750 part-time)

The Law School’s Board of Trustees established this scholarship in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to qualified entering black/African-American students.

($5,000 full-time, or up to full tuition/$3,750 part-time, or up to full tuition)

The Opportunity Grant Program was established by the Faculty to provide scholarship assistance to entering black/African-American students who have demonstrated potential for high academic achievement.

Students who enter Brooklyn Law School without a merit scholarship will be awarded a Dean’s Recognition Scholarship for their second year, provided that they finish the spring semester of the first year with a cumulative academic rank that places them within the upper 10% of their graduating class (for full-time students), or the upper 10% of their first-year entering class (for part-time students).

Newly admitted students who are awarded a merit scholarship(s) must remit a merit scholarship deposit of $200 by May 1 to secure the award. The only exception to this requirement is if the admitted student applied for Brooklyn Law School housing and remitted a $500 housing deposit on or before May 1, in which case the merit scholarship deposit is waived.

Merit Scholarship Deposit Refund Policy
If an admitted student remits a merit scholarship deposit prior to May 1 and subsequently notifies the Office of Admissions that he or she will not be attending Brooklyn Law School, the admitted student is entitled to a full refund of the $200 merit scholarship deposit, provided that written notification of the withdrawal is postmarked, faxed, e-mailed or hand-delivered to the Office of Admissions by May 1. In the event that the admitted student withdraws his or her application after May 1, the $200 merit scholarship deposit is partially refundable, in accordance with the following schedule:

Date of Withdrawal	Refund
May 2 – 15	$ 100
May 16 – 31	$ 50
After May 31	No Refund

NOTE: The merit scholarship deposit will be refunded in full if the admitted student withdraws within five (5) business days after our receipt of payment. Beyond this grace period, the above schedule will apply irrespective of the date of an award letter. Thus, if for any reason, a merit scholarship deposit is remitted after May 31 and then the admitted student withdraws before the start of the fall semester, there will be no refund after the 5-day grace period.

Students Matriculating In	# Entering with Conditional Scholarships​	# Whose Conditional Scholarships Have Since Been Reduced or Eliminated​
​2011-12	​	​
390	​260	​137
​	​	​

Click here for Merit Scholarship Renewal Statistics.