Public Service Tuition Waiver Program May End at Harvard Law

Harvard Law School announced Monday that it is likely to scale back a program launched in 2008 that waives third-year tuition for students planning to pursue careers in public service, as University-wide budget cuts force schools to re-examine financial aid allocations.

In an e-mail to Law School students, Law School Dean Martha Minow wrote that all current students can continue to participate in the Public Service Initiative and receive the full one-year tuition waiver if they commit to five years of public service after graduation. But it is unlikely that the program will be offered to future incoming classes, including students admitted this fall, Minow wrote.

This fall, 58 third-year students signed up for the initiative, which has a budget of $3 million per year for a five-year period ending in 2012.

Minow wrote that a Public Service Task Force has been appointed to determine how to promote public service after the Public Service Initiative comes to an end. A new initiative, to be extended to students admitted this fall and in the following years, is expected to be announced by next March.

—Check TheCrimson.com for further updates.