The Fund for the Public Interest, created in l987, is the law school's comprehensive public interest initiative. It is designed to provide financial support, as well as educational programs, for students and graduates committed to accepting relatively low-paying public interest internships and post-graduate positions. Recipients work primarily in legal service organizations, public defender offices, government agencies and nonprofit advocacy groups. The Fund for the Public Interest has four main components: the Loan Deferral/Forgiveness (LD/F) Program, the Co-op Stipend Program, the Daniel J. Givelber Fund and the Public Interest Scholarship Program.

Loan Deferral/Forgiveness Program

Since l990, the LD/F Program has provided loan relief assistance to graduates pursuing careers with public interest law organizations. Since 1990, the program has provided more than $2 million to more than 325 graduates. Under the program, a portion of an eligible graduate's debt is initially deferred and ultimately forgiven if the recipient continues working in the public interest field for between three and five years. While the majority of LD/F recipients perform public interest work in Massachusetts, the program has supported graduates working in 24 states and the District of Columbia. Over half the funding has supported graduates working with indigent clients.

Co-op Stipend Program

Since l988, this component of the fund has provided support for students undertaking public interest co-ops. In recent years, the School of Law has annually awarded $500,000 to the approximately 220 students completing public interest co-ops through support from the Fund for the Public Interest and other law school stipend programs. Stipends have allowed students on co-op to represent immigrants seeking political asylum, tenants fighting to prevent eviction, women seeking shelter from domestic violence, children trying to obtain educational services, mothers seeking child support payments, inmates challenging overcrowded prison conditions and more. The Fund for the Public Interest Co-op Stipend Program has been supported through gifts from donors, including the Stride Rite Charitable Foundation, George H. and Jane A. Mifflin Memorial Fund, Brown Rudnick Special Fund for the Public Interest, the Neil Leifer '81 Public Interest Co-op Stipend Fund, the law school's Thomas P. Campbell Fund and countless graduates in all practice areas.

Givelber Fund

Named in honor of Professor Daniel J. Givelber, a renowned expert on the death penalty and a former dean of the School of Law, this fund brings distinguished public service practitioners to the school as visiting faculty so they may share with students and faculty the challenges and satisfactions of public service practice.

The Public Interest Law Scholarship Program

The Public Interest Law Scholarship Program offers three-quarter tuition scholarship, renewable each year, to selected students. It is the most generous and prestigious scholarship offered by the law school and recipients are among our strongest students. Not only do recipients have academic profiles that boast strong scores and grades, they also have very strong backgrounds in fields that pertain to social justice and public service. Many have worked for years in areas such as human rights, immigration, social work, child advocacy, prison reform, politics and welfare reform. All prospective students interested in this scholarship must submit a special application.

The scholarship is funded by major donations from law school graduates and friends. Launched in 1999 by generous donors who believed that the mission of the law school naturally led to the need for such a scholarship, the first class of scholars graduated in 2003. These graduates have now started to build what will become a strong network, giving back to the program and assisting new students as they begin their pursuit of public interest law careers. Once scholars have graduated from the School of Law, it is expected that a significant portion of their careers be dedicated to public interest law.