Our supportive community encourages students to take intellectual risks. Furthermore, our students do not receive class rankings. Our belief—confirmed by employers and leaders in the profession—is that students who learn the law in a supportive, collaborative environment make exceptional lawyers and leaders.

LEADERS IN LAW AND BUSINESS

Designed exclusively for Law School students and taught by Wharton faculty, the certificate complements and strengthens the practical training Penn Carey Law students receive as part of a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary legal education. The managerial and leadership skills taught in the course build upon the extensive practice skills law students develop in Penn Carey Law’s clinics, externship programs, and pro bono projects.

Students earn both JD and MBA degrees in three years, rather than the five years it would typically take to earn each degree separately. Students spend their first year at the Law School and the following summer in law and Wharton courses designed specifically for the JD/MBA Program. The second and third years include a combination of law and Wharton courses, along with the JD/MBA capstone course in the third year.

Judicial Clerkships

Many of our faculty members have held prestigious clerkships, and they—along with OCS’s clerkship counselor—advise and guide students as they move through the application process. Penn Carey Law’s OCS also offers extensive programming on the value of clerking, and clerkship applicants are supported by a network of former clerks, alumni judges, and faculty members committed to the success of our students and alumni.

PIONEERING Cross-disciplinary Research

Tomorrow’s challenges require an education that crosses boundaries and expands our understanding of the law and the world, and Penn Carey Law’s world-class faculty is ready to share their expertise with you.

Global Thought leaders

REGULATION & POLICY EXPERTS

ARC Justice Clinic students researched the disproportionate use of summary citations against Black students in Pittsburgh public schools. This practice funneled students into the criminal legal system and harmed their educational opportunities. Clinic students partnered with state and local advocacy groups to demand that the Board of Directors of Pittsburgh Public Schools end the use of summary citations. As a result, the Board permanently halted the practice, and Pittsburgh students no longer face summary citations for school incidents.

In the aftermath of a 2023 settlement between legal advocates and the City of Philadelphia over police use of force during racial justice protests, ARC Justice Clinic students were involved in the implementation of the Bread and Roses Community Fund’s West Philadelphia Community Fund, distributing some of the settlement’s proceeds to support equity, racial justice, organizing, and healing for people impacted by police violence. Clinic students have also been involved in follow-up efforts to ensure police transparency and accountability in West Philadelphia.

In another successful case, students represented a Philadelphia renter whose landlord threatened to evict him after he reported serious habitability issues in his home. Arguing in Municipal Court, students averted eviction for the client and obtained a judgment of several thousand dollars in his favor for repairs that he had been forced to make out of pocket.

In a precedent-setting case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, a team of students and faculty filed an amicus curiae brief contending that the forfeiture of an elderly mother’s home and car constituted an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment.

They have secured exciting wins for clients, including successfully litigating motions to suppress illegally obtained evidence in felony drug cases which both protected clients’ constitutional rights and resulted in the State’s dropping of all felony charges.

By helping a variety of clients with transactional IP issues, students practice at the intersection of law, business, technology, and the arts. The clinic has created strong collaborations with other Penn professional schools—including the Schools of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Medicine, Business [Wharton], and Arts and Sciences—to allow law students to gain an interdisciplinary perspective how best to serve clients.

Students have also worked with clients that went on to launch successful enterprises, such as Dagne Dover and GenHERation. They advised on copyright and trademark for an author and illustrator of a series of children’s books and for another nonprofit delivering educational programming to Haitian schoolchildren.

Students also developed a protection strategy for the processes and sculptures of a women-owned glassblowing studio upcycling recycled glass.

Students also assisted with a variety of corporate governance issues, ensuring the business was on firm footing and able to develop and deploy a product to clean up and preserve the environment.

Other clients included:

• A microbrewery focused on employing formerly incarcerated, formerly unhoused, and other marginalized individuals
• An organization for mobile food vendors seeking to navigate and advocate for better city regulations for this industry
• A non-profit that supports career development for under-represented scientists

Supervised by interdisciplinary faculty, Penn Carey Law students work collaboratively with social work students from the Penn School of Social Policy and Practice to advocate for clients. Law students learn fundamental lawyering skills within the context of child and family advocacy and through the lens of a trauma-informed and client-centered service model.

As a member of the Family Justice Partnership with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Community Legal Services, the clinic provides legal services to address the social determinants of health for children and families in Philadelphia. Students partner with medical teams to identify civil legal needs that impact health.

Students work on complex, real-world projects that illuminate how legal systems can better serve people affected by inequity. They gain hands-on experience advocating for change in court systems, city and state legislatures, and state and federal agencies. Justice Lab also equips the students with a broad advocacy toolkit, from legislative and policy drafting to community education, media advocacy, and court procedure reform.

In the clinic, students learn about legislative solutions while conducting actual legislative and public policy work on issues of state and national importance. Students spend two to three days per week engaged in legislative work at chosen sites, most frequently in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.

Students can also work on state and local policy issues. One student chose to work with a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, for whom she conducted extensive research and analysis on redistricting reform and drafted a comprehensive redistricting bill. Another worked closely with a Philadelphia City Councilmember on critical issues such as affordable housing, community land trusts, and gun violence. A third student worked with a nonprofit advancing national policy to support renewable energy.

Students secured asylum in a case involving a Honduran family of four who were forced to flee their home after credible, escalating threats of extreme violence against the parents and their children. Students have also submitted urgent action communications to UN human rights bodies to address egregious violations against immigrants held in detention centers in Georgia. Looking beyond the U.S. borders, students have aided advocates in Nepal to advance the rights of the country’s migrant workers, pursuing law reform and other initiatives during the transition to a new constitution and a federal system of government.

Our study abroad programs empower students to build global peer networks, expand their language and cross-cultural skills, and distinguish their resumes with demonstrated connections to different countries or regions.

Penn Carey Law’s fellowship programs support students as they undertake human rights, rule-of-law development, and legal practice work in countries around the world.

Philadelphia is one of the world’s most exciting cities—which may be why National Geographic named Philadelphia the “Next Great City” in the past and one of the best trips to take in 2024. Whether you’re here for three years or the rest of your life, make sure to take advantage of everything the city has to offer.

Penn Bus East, West and North are evening bus services that operate on a fixed schedule and established route. They do not deviate from that route but will pick up and deliver passengers at designated stops on campus and at any corner off-campus along the route. For more information and schedules, please visit Penn Buses website.

Health and Wellness

The Clinton/Parker Wellness Suite is named after two beloved members of the Penn Carey Law community who made student well-being the cornerstone of their work in the Law School. In 2017, the Dean of Students, Gary Clinton, was due to retire and the graduating JD class wanted to pay homage to him by naming the Wellness Suite after him. That same year, when the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, Matthew Parker L’00, GEd’15 passed away, the LLM Class took up a contribution to add his name to the suite. The Clinton/Parker Wellness Suite recognizes the energy Clinton and Parker dedicated to student welfare by providing a space for students to give attention to their own well-being. You will find the Clinton/Parker Wellness Suite on the Law School campus in the Silverman Ground Floor.

Penn Carey Law offers one of the most generous and comprehensive financial aid programs in the country. Our mission is to help students achieve their educational goals by identifying practical solutions for financing a legal education.

This section contains a summary of our financial aid programs and application process, as well as a checklist to help keep you on track. Make sure that you complete each step by its indicated deadline. We strongly recommend that you complete each step as soon as possible so that you will receive a financial aid decision in a timely fashion.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 215-898-7743 or finaid@law.upenn.edu.

We look forward to connecting with you in the near future!

Sincerely,

• Our career counselors guiding students and alumni through applications for postgraduate fellowships and loan repayment assistance. Our counselors also provide comprehensive support and access to resources for securing summer internships and public interest and government employment.
• The Toll Public Interest Center (TPIC), Office of Career Strategy (OCS), and a faculty committee providing consistent support and an unrivaled network for students seeking postgraduate fellowships. This includes personalized assistance during the rigorous application process for national fellowships, as well as postgraduate fellowships sponsored by Penn.

Students work with counselors from the Office of Career Strategy and the Toll Public Interest Center to find the right program for their public interest internship and funding needs. Penn Carey Law’s guaranteed summer funding program provides financial support for public interest work in government, legal services, nonprofit organizations, and NGOs.

• THE LANGER, GROGAN AND DIVER FELLOWSHIP IN SOCIAL JUSTICE — Generously funded by Penn Carey Law alumni at Langer, Grogan & Diver P.C., this fellowship is a Delaware Valley-based fellowship that will fund one year of full-time work at a sponsoring public interest organization.
• The Penn Carey Law Public Interest Fellowships — These fellowships fund one year of full-time work at a national or international sponsoring public interest organization.
• The Toll Public Interest Fellowship — This fellowship funds one year of full-time work at a national or international sponsoring public interest organization.
• University of Pennsylvania Law Review Public Interest Fellowship — This fellowship funds one year of full-time work at a national or international sponsoring public interest organization.
• Penn Carey Law Catalyst Fellowship — This fellowship funds one year of post-graduate volunteer attorney work in government, nonprofit, or international organizations.

Penn Carey Law also has its own robust fellowship program, including Project-based Fellowships and Catalyst Fellowships, which are awarded on a competitive basis:

Project-based Fellowships provide one-year of funding for graduating students to partner with a nonprofit organization and design a project to address a particular client need.

Catalyst Fellowships provide one-year of funding for post-graduate attorney work in government, nonprofit, or international organizations.

In recent years, our graduates have launched their careers through fellowships with a wide range of organizations including the ACLU of Hawaii, the Brennan Center for Justice, the National Women’s Law Center, Earthjustice, Reprieve, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, and the Defender Association of Philadelphia.

The Toll Public Interest Fellows receive a 75% tuition scholarship for their second and third years of study at Penn Carey Law. This program also offers a generous stipend of $10,000 for public interest employment for the summer bridging 2L and 3L, plus $10,000 for the summer following graduation. All students are welcome to apply to the Toll Public Interest Fellows Program. Interested students apply and are selected during the summer following their first year of study. Application instructions are sent out in late spring. Fellows are selected on the basis of their demonstrated commitment to public service and pro bono, their engagement with the Law School’s pro bono and public interest communities during 1L, and their potential for leadership within the legal community.

Observe the deadlines listed below in order to have your financial aid award determined in a timely fashion.

A need analysis will not be performed until financial aid applications are complete.

1. File a 2026-2027 FAFSA at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa.
2. Include Penn’s Federal School Code: 003378.
3. Submit a financial aid application at https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/ using the code 2495.
4. Federal Income Tax Returns and W2 Forms: Please submit copies of your, your parents’, and, if applicable, your spouse’s 2024 Tax Returns, all pages and schedules. To expedite processing, attach a Tax I.D. Form to your returns. We prefer electronic copies of your tax forms via online submission at https://www.sfs.upenn.edu/forms/OnlineDocSubmitForm.php. If tax returns were not filed, you still need to submit the Tax I.D. Form and sign the Non-Filer section. If the date of your marriage is prior to June 1, 2026, a copy of your spouse’s 2024 Tax Return is also required. Please submit all corresponding W2 Forms. You can print off a Tax I.D. Form at https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/13223-tax-id-coversheet.

• Incoming students are notified of their financial aid eligibility on a rolling basis beginning March 2026.
• Notification of fall 2026 tuition bills will be sent to your Penn Carey Law email address around July 1st and will be due late July 2026. More information can be found at https://srfs.upenn.edu/billing-payment.
• Monthly Budgeting Program — Pay educational expenses over four (4) months each term. The deadline to apply is typically in May. Go to srfs.upenn.edu/billing-payment/penn-payment-plan for deadlines and more details.