Second & Third Year Scholarships

Opportunities for scholarships don't end with the offer of admission. Our second and third year students are considered for a number of awards. We award many endowed scholarships. Please read the descriptions below to see if you may qualify.

Scholarships

Generously funded through a gift from Esther and John Clark, the Professor Esther Clark Endowed Scholarship is awarded to a rising second year student on the basis of outstanding academic performance.

The Gary L. Bahr Memorial Scholarship is named in memory of Professor Gary L. Bahr, a member of the founding faculty at Roger Williams University School of Law and the first Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, who passed away July 7, 1999. Awarded annually, this endowed scholarship is given to a first year student. This scholarship recognizes the student who received the highest combined academic average in Contracts and Torts.

In 2024, two $6,925 Law Alumni Association Scholarships will be awarded to two deserving law students who have completed their first year of study based on academic merit and demonstrated financial need.

2024 Candidate Criteria and Application.

Established in 1992, the RIAJ's Justice Joseph R. Weisberger Endowed Scholarship, funded with generous support from the Rhode Island Association for Justice, is awarded to a law student. Deserving recipients are selected based on their demonstrated interest in Trial or other Legal Advocacy courses and must be a student of high academic achievement.

The Thurgood Marshall Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to a law student who has completed his/her second-year curriculum and has demonstrated academic merit and financial need.

The Michael P. McNulty Scholarship has been established at Roger Williams University School of Law to honor Michael McNulty, who died suddenly just before the beginning of his 3L year. Michael was an enthusiastic law student and a friend and inspiration to his classmates and to most everyone he met. His kindness and his good will were infectious.

A Scholarship Committee will organize and administer the program. One $2,650 scholarship will be awarded to a third-year student and applied to 2024/2025 tuition expenses. 

Eligibility

  • Any student who has completed 60 credits by August 1, 2024.

Criteria

  • Demonstrated financial need
  • Demonstrated interest in criminal law or admiralty law
  • Character traits similar to those of Michael McNulty

Please email chorne@rwu.edu to request an application. Completed applications must be submitted to chorne@rwu.edu no later than 1:00 p.m. on Friday, August 16, 2024. Untimely applications will not be considered.

Close Course Type Descriptions

Course Types

We have classified RWU Law classes under the following headers. One of the following course types will be attached to each course which will allow students to narrow down their search while looking for classes.

Core Course

Students in the first and second year are required to take classes covering the following aspects of the law—contracts, torts, property, criminal law, civil procedure, and constitutional law, evidence, and professional responsibility.  Along with these aspects, the core curriculum will develop legal reasoning skills.

Elective

After finishing the core curriculum the remaining coursework toward the degree is completed through upper level elective courses.  Students can choose courses that peak their interests or courses that go along with the track they are following.

Seminar

Seminars are classes where teachers and small groups of students focus on a specific topic and the students complete a substantial research paper.

Clinics/Externships

Inhouse Clinics and Clinical Externships legal education is law school training in which students participate in client representation under the supervision of a practicing attorney or law professor.  RWU Law's Clinical Programs offer unique and effective learning opportunities and the opportunity for practical experience while still in law school.