UW School of Law Announces Public Service Law Scholarship Program – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

SEATTLE -- The University of Washington School of Law today added a new component to its long-standing commitment to public service law with a $33.3 million scholarship program intended to encourage law students to seek careers in public service, without the tremendous burden of law school debt.  

The William H. Gates Public Service Law Scholarship Program (Gates PSL Scholarship) will recruit and develop a new caliber of highly committed, knowledgeable attorneys equipped to help those who are either without access to legal representation, or historically underserved by the profession. The program’s namesake, Bill Gates, Sr. is credited with more than five decades of public service. He graduated from the UW School of Law in the class of 1950.

“This program will give our law students an extraordinary opportunity to pursue public service. I am confident that it will become one of the most distinguished scholarships for the study of law,” said Mark Emmert, University of Washington president. “There is simply no better way to honor Bill Gates Sr., a man who has given so much of his life to public service and to the University of Washington in particular.”
 
“Law will always be a crucial, and, indeed, essential part of preserving and enhancing a civil society,” noted W.H. ‘Joe’ Knight, dean of the UW School of Law. “This program will serve as a reminder to all of our students about the importance of civic engagement and participation. No one better understands the significance of public responsibility and stewardship than Bill Gates Sr. His life has been a stunning example of what many of us aspire to achieve in our careers.”

The Gates PSL Scholarship will fund the legal education of five candidates each year, over a period of 80 years, and will cover the total cost of attending the UW School of Law (as defined by the university’s Office of Financial Aid) including tuition, room and board, and academic supplies for entering first-year students. The program also will provide support for seminars, a speaker series, internships, job placement, and several opportunities for Gates PSL Scholars and other UW law students to collaborate on public service issues with other law schools in Washington state.  

Candidates for the scholarship will be evaluated on criteria that include:

• A demonstrated commitment to public service law
  
  
• A stated intent to practice public service law, which includes work performed in a 501(c) (3) non-profit or non-governmental legal aid or advocacy organization, a government prosecution office, public defender office, administrative agency, legislative office, legal clinic in an academic setting, private law firm with a public service practice dedicated to the public service mission, domestic and/or international judicial clerkships, or work with a non-governmental organization
  
  
• Academic achievement and aptitude
  
  
• Potential for leadership in the public service law arena
  
  
• Demonstrated financial need, to be used to differentiate among otherwise equally qualified candidates.

Not coincidentally, the 80-year time span of the Gates PSL Scholarship program also mirrors the age of Bill Gates Sr., who is celebrating his 80th birthday. The scholarship in his name was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation, its co-founders, and the Gates family wanted to honor Bill Senior’s deep commitment to public service by creating a scholarship at his alma mater.

“We knew that the best possible gift for my father would be one that supports and continues his long tradition of service by opening opportunities to others,” said Bill Gates. “This program will have an impact not just on the lives of 400 scholars, but on all of the people they will serve.”

“We’re delighted to honor Bill Senior in this way,” said Melinda French Gates. “He has been an incredible example to all of us, and we wanted to express our admiration and appreciation with a gift that connects him to future generations of committed, civic-minded students and the ongoing work of the University of Washington.”  

The first five scholarships will be awarded in the UW School of Law class selected in April 2006. Acceptance of a Gates PSL Scholarship represents a solemn commitment on the part of each student to dedicate themselves to work in the public service arena for seven years following graduation.

If a graduate is employed in a position that pays the prevailing public service wage or lower, there will be no requirement to repay these scholarships. Graduates earning salaries within a seven-year period following graduation that are higher than the prevailing public service salaries will be expected to repay the scholarships as though they were loans.

Should a student not successfully complete the three-year Juris Doctor (J.D.) program, repayment of tuition and all related expenses will be expected. Students may have the option of repaying this obligation through an approved public service position.

For more specific details on the Gates PSL Scholarship program, see:
http://www.law.washington.edu/.