February 16, 2023
Dear Friends,

Today we are thrilled to announce the expansion of our groundbreaking Soledad ’92 and Robert Hurst Horizon Scholarship Program to ensure that more students with significant financial needs will be able to attend Yale Law free of tuition and health care costs.

Beginning in fall 2023, students from families with incomes at 200% of the federal poverty line will be automatically enrolled in the program. With these expanded qualifications, the program will cover the cost of tuition, fees, and health insurance — a scholarship of more than $70,000 per year — for between 80–90 J.D. students in the classes of 2024, 2025, and 2026, up from 51 students this academic year.

For decades, Yale Law School has led the way with a comprehensive financial aid model that awards scholarship solely based on need — one of only two law schools in the country to do so. This is another moment for us to lead. By expanding the Hurst Horizon Scholarship Program, we are freeing more of our highest need students from the burden of financial worry during law school and taking another step toward redefining who can benefit from a legal education. Over the last five years, we have steadily improved our comprehensive financial aid program, which supports 77% of the student body, and we will continue to build on this progress in the years ahead.

I am so grateful for the incredible generosity of Soledad ’92 and Robert Hurst, David ’78 and Patricia Nierenberg, and Gene ’73 and Carol Ludwig MD, who have made it possible to endow the scholarship for generations to come. I am particularly proud that we were able to expand this program in just under a year and especially pleased that others are following our lead in offering similar scholarships, including Stanford Law School, Harvard Business School, and Washington University School of Law School. It is my hope that other law schools will work to bolster need-based aid to ensure a legal education is accessible to all.

Thank you for your unfailing support of this Law School and our students. I look forward to talking to you more about this program in coming months.

Warmly,

Heather K. Gerken
Dean & Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law