Now in its third year, the Hurst Horizon Scholarship Program at Yale Law School has grown rapidly to comprise 88 students across the J.D. classes of 2025, 2026, and 2027.
This year, nearly 15%, or one in seven students in the current 1L class, receives full-tuition scholarships to attend Yale Law School. Launched in 2022, the scholarship covered 51 students in its first year and expanded to cover 75 in its second.
The Soledad ’92 and Robert Hurst Horizon Scholarship Program awards the scholarships to students whose family income is up to 200% of the federal poverty guidelines and whose assets are below $150,000.
“As the first person in my family to graduate from high school, the Hurst Horizon Scholarship has given me the opportunity to attend law school without having to sacrifice my commitment to public service for financial security,” said Trinh Q. Truong ’27, one of this year’s recipients. “I’ve worked tirelessly — often multiple jobs — to support my family, and receiving the Hurst Horizon Scholarship has allowed me to concentrate on my studies like never before. This support has freed me from the financial worries that have long overshadowed my academic journey.”
We need to keep pushing legal education to remove the many barriers that block access to law school and focus on the metrics that truly matter.”
—Dean Heather K. Gerken
The expansion of the Hurst Horizon Program is part of a larger trend at the Law School. Over the last seven years, the number of students who are the first in their families to attend graduate or professional school has increased by 50%, while the number of first-generation college students has grown by 80%. This year, one in four students from the incoming class are first-generation college and/or low-income.
“We are thrilled to have 88 students walking our halls tuition-free this year,” said Dean Heather K. Gerken. “These are remarkably talented students who make Yale a better place.”
During her deanship, Gerken has worked to kick open the doors to legal education and remove barriers to law for new generations of students.
In the last few years, Yale Law School has launched two law school pipeline programs, the Launchpad Scholars Program and Access to Law School Program, which enable would-be lawyers to gain support and resources as they apply to the law schools of their choice. Every financial aid program at the Law School has been strengthened in recent years, and its tuition-free scholarship for low-income students was the first such program in the country.
“Our community has been enriched by the presence of our incredibly accomplished Hurst Horizon Scholars who are future leaders and changemakers,” said Associate Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Miriam Ingber ’04. “Providing the Scholars with the opportunity to obtain a world-class legal education without many of the usual financial pressures is a win-win for the YLS community and our students.”
As it stands today, Yale Law School remains one of only two law schools in the U.S. that offers financial aid solely based on need.
In 2023, the School withdrew from the U.S. News and World Report rankings due in large part to their pernicious effects on financial aid structures: the rankings incentivized merit scholarships over need-based aid. Data from the American Bar Association showed that in 2010, 79% of scholarships were awarded based on merit; just 19% were need-based. The Law School’s withdrawal from the rankings inspired nearly 60 schools to do the same, which has freed up legal institutions to make different choices and focus on different metrics.
Since the launch of the Hurst Horizon program, several other schools have followed Yale Law School’s example in establishing their own need-based aid programs, including Harvard Law School, the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, Michigan Law School, and Stanford Law School.
Heading into the third year of the program, Yale Law School has a lot to celebrate — not least its wildly talented, service-oriented student body. But there’s more to be done, said Gerken.
“Not until every school offers aid purely based on financial need can we say that we’re a profession open to all,” she said. “We need to keep pushing legal education to remove the many barriers that block access to law school and focus on the metrics that truly matter.”
https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/yale-law-school-awards-88-hurst-horizon-scholarships-2024-25
