Scholarships

Each year, OCU Law awards more than $1 million in scholarships to admitted students. All applicants are automatically considered for merit scholarships. No separate application is required.

2022-23

2022-23

While most awards are based on academic excellence and a strong LSAT performance, additional factors such as leadership, service, diversity, work experience and financial need are considered.

Sumners Scholarship

We are one of only two law schools in the country to offer the prestigious Sumners Scholarship, awarded to high-achieving students who have a demonstrable commitment to leadership and service. The scholarship includes full tuition, full fees, and a stipend for book and living expenses.

Application Deadline: February 20

To receive consideration, students must be admitted to the law school and should complete and submit the Sumners Scholarship application by February 20. If you are interested in applying for a Sumners Scholarship, you must complete the SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION. Once on the website, click “Create New Account” to complete the registration process and create your login credentials. The access code for the application is OCU34SS49.

Finalists for this scholarship will be invited to the law school to interview with the Sumners Foundation Board of Trustees in March.

Eligibility

Applicants must be a resident, student, or graduate of a college or university in one of the following states: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Louisiana, Nebraska, or New Mexico.

Selection Criteria And Process

Selection is based on academic proficiency, extracurricular achievement, and a demonstrated capacity for public service. All applications are welcome and will be reviewed in February by members of the administration and faculty. Approximately twenty applicants are selected for interviews with Trustees of the Sumners Foundation in April.

Renewal

Sumners Scholarships are renewable awards. Recipients of these awards must be enrolled in the full-time program and maintain a cumulative GPA average in the top one-third of their class and complete continued and ongoing attendance in Sumners Foundation events.

Dean’s Scholarship

The Dean’s Scholarship provides full tuition and fees to select incoming students who have demonstrated academic excellence, achieved a strong LSAT performance, and have a record of leadership and community service.  To qualify, students must have a 159 or higher on the LSAT and a 3.5 cumulative GPA.

This scholarship is renewable throughout a recipient’s time in law school so long as the recipient remains in academic and disciplinary good standing with a law school GPA of 2.0 or above.

Full-Time and Part-Time Merit Scholarships

Merit Scholarships provide financial assistance to incoming, enrolled law students who have demonstrated academic excellence at the undergraduate level with a strong performance on the LSAT. These scholarships are renewable throughout a recipient’s time in law school so long as the recipient remains in academic and disciplinary good standing with a law school GPA of 2.0 or above.

Robert H. Henry Scholarship

This scholarship is awarded to students who are pursuing a degree in law and have shown an interest or connection to Native American communities and law. Preference is given to enrolled tribal members. The scholarship is made possible by a gift from the Chickasaw Nation and is named after Robert H. Henry, a former dean of the School of Law and president of the University.

Transfer Scholarships

Transfer applicants from ABA-accredited law schools who are in the top ten percent of their class are eligible for up to $10,000 in scholarship awards. All transfer applicants are automatically considered for the scholarship.

Scholarships, Writing Competitions, Fellowships & More

AccessLex Law School Scholarship Databank

Find a comprehensive list of scholarships for incoming and returning law students, and even some that can be used to pay for degrees prior to a J.D. (including bachelor’s and master’s degrees), or towards bar study costs at www.accesslex.org.

Oklahoma City Association of Black Lawyers

Scholarship deadline: Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, by 5 p.m. Learn more and apply.

American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers Annual Writing Competition

Each year The American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers seeks to recognize written contributions to the field of U.S. consumer financial services law. Eligible papers include publishable articles, substantial book reviews, or book chapters; books; and student case note or comment. Official publications of or by government agencies are not eligible. In any year, depending on the quality of the submissions, awards may be made in all, some, or none of these three categories.

The awards include a cash payment ($5,000 for books, $3,500 for articles, reviews, or book chapters; and $1,500 for student work), a certificate or other token of recognition, and (if applicable) travel expenses to attend the College’s annual dinner (if held, typically in conjunction with the Spring Meeting of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association). The deadline for submission is November 1, 2024. Learn more and enter.

IMLA Charles W. Thompson, Jr. Local Government Law Scholarships

The IMLA Scholarships consist of a single $5,000 award and two $2,500 awards which will be conferred annually on applicants selected by IMLA, to be applied as tuition at an accredited law school in the United States or Canada. IMLA Scholarship recipients will also be recognized in IMLA’s flagship publication Municipal Lawyer and will be granted admission to IMLA’s virtual Annual Mid-Year Seminar during the Spring following the award (so long as the IMLA Mid-Year Seminar is offered virtually), allowing access to leading-edge curricula and domain experts across a wide span of local government law subjects.

First-year and second-year law students will be eligible to apply for the IMLA Scholarships, which, if awarded, will apply to their next year’s law school tuition (i.e., their second or third year of law school). The deadline for submission is December 31, 2024. Learn more and apply.

Donald W. Banner Diversity Fellowship

Banner Witcoff is pleased to offer the Donald W. Banner Diversity Fellowship for law students. This Fellowship is part of Banner Witcoff’s continuing commitment to strengthening diversity and inclusion in the field of intellectual property law.

Banner Witcoff will award $5,000 in law school tuition or other school-related expenses to Fellowship recipients upon completion of their 1L clerkship in the firm’s summer program. If a 1L student returns to the firm’s summer program for any part of their 2L summer and accepts a full-time position with Banner Witcoff, the student will receive an additional $5,000 financial award payable upon acceptance.

The maximum award possible for any Fellowship recipient is $10,000. The deadline to apply is January 3, 2025. Learn more and apply.

Cutting Sign Workshop for Native Students

For millennia Indigenous peoples have used focused attention and a deep understanding of their surroundings, the behaviors of humans, birds, and four-legged creatures, and a clear intention to track and find people and animals.  Today this practice is generally referred to as cutting sign or sign cutting.

This event will help Native law students break into the legal profession by attending panels, honing skills, developing a personal brand, networking with professionals, and participating in a day of interviewing with employers from across the country. Sessions will include resume/cover letter workshops, mock interviews, networking, and the elevator pitch workshops, and specific advice on applying for judicial clerkships, in-house, firm, governmental, JD advantage, and other opportunities. In addition, there will be opportunities for informal networking.

Funding to cover all travel and food costs for students participating is given on a first-come-first-served basis. Learn more and register.

Diversity Scholarships