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Summer Funding

Public Interest Grant Program

Each year, the Law School distributes grants to students working in public interest positions over the summer through the Public Interest Grant Program. The grants are distributed in the amount of $5,000 for those who have completed their first year of law school, or $6,000 for upper-level students.

The application cycle for these grants begins in January, with the deadline being within the first week of April. During the month of January, the Public Interest Director and Program Manager host a summer funding info session to go over all the application details and instructions. View the recorded 2025 info session (you must be logged in to your @law email to access it).

Please see the timeline for the Summer 2025 grant application below:

PIPS Grant Timeline - Summer 2025
 January 17, 2025Application Opens
January 22, 2025Summer Funding Info Session
March 31st, 2025Application Opens
March 31, 2025Application Deadline
April 15, 2025Announcement of Decision
April 21, 2025Awardees Must Submit Acceptance Forms
April 23, 2025Alternates will be Notified
September 2025Sponsor Certification Forms Due (Exact dates are sent to grant recipients as the deadline happens in waves depending on when students complete their internships.)

Summer 2025 Grant Application

Equal Justice Foundation (EJF)

This student-run organization raises money and awards stipends to students working in unpaid public interest internships. To be eligible for a stipend, students must volunteer at least 20 hours with EJF. Email ejfatlaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu (ejf[at]law[dot]gwu[dot]edu) for more information about volunteer opportunities.

Details and Requirements

Squire Patton Boggs Fellowships

For the past 20 years, the law firm Squire Patton Boggs, through its charitable foundation, has provided several fellowship opportunities for public interest students at GW Law and other law schools. All grants will be in the amount of $5,500. If a rising 3L receives a grant, GW will add $500 for a total award of $6,000.

The application cycle for these fellowships typically opens in December and ends in late-January. 

For 2026, all Squire Patton Boggs Fellowship applications are due Monday, January 26th at 5pm to be submitted via email to publicinterestatlaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu.

Sustained Impact Advancing Justice Fellowship

There are two organizations that students can apply for through this fellowship. They are:

Sustained Impact Advancing Justice Fellowship Application

The Law School will nominate only one student for this fellowship, and that GW Law student will compete with nominees from 18 other law schools.

Joe Brand "Human Rights First" Fellowship

Fellowship with Human Rights First in Washington, DC.

Joe Brand Human Rights First Fellowship Application

This fellowship is offered exclusively to GW Law students and is named after Joe Brand, a GW Law alumnus.

Sustained Impact Human Rights Fellowship - Human Rights Watch

This fellowship can be done remotely or in DC. This project will build on Human Rights Watch’s long-term research and advocacy that contributed to the adoption in November 2022 of a global political declaration to curb the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas, which has now been endorsed by over 80 states. Read more about the type of work this fellowship will entail.

Human Rights Watch Fellowship Application

The Law School will nominate only one student for this fellowship, and that GW Law student will compete with nominees from 18 other law schools.

Veterans Justice Fellowship at "Swords to Plowshares"

Fellowship with Swords to Plowshares in San Francisco, addressing justice for veterans.

Swords to Plowshares - Veterans Justice Fellowship Application

The Law School will nominate only one student for this fellowship, and that GW Law student will compete with nominees from 18 other law schools.

Sustained Impact Rural Justice Fellowship

Fellowship with Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio (LASCO), offering legal services to low-income, rural communities in southeast Ohio.

Sustained Impact Rural Justice Fellowship Application

The Law School will nominate only one student for this fellowship, and that GW Law student will compete with nominees from 18 other law schools.

Shapiro Public Interest Summer Fellowship

Each summer, Professor Jonathan Turley selects fellows for the summer. These fellows will be awarded $12,000 and will work under Professor Turley's supervision on litigation projects at outside organizations.

Students should send a cover letter explaining their proposed work, their resume, and most recent transcripts to Professor Jonathan Turley (jturleyatlaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu) and his assistant Seth Tate (sethbtateatlaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu). All submissions should be sent to Seth as soon as possible but no later than April 6, 2025. While late submissions may be considered, grant decisions are likely to be made by the middle of April.

Details and Requirements

The positions must be for:

  • A minimum of 10 and a preference for 12 weeks in the summer.
  • Litigation or the preparation of litigation in the public interest on the trial or appellate levels.
  • Include a written offer from the project or organization describing the nature of the organization.
  • A general description of the tasks to be performed by the student. If this work is being done outside of the law school, the project or organization must allow the student to share with Professor Turley benchmarks or progress reports on the work being performed.
  • Students applying with Professor Turley should note if they have also applied for the Public Interest Grant Program. Students are allowed to apply to both programs and dual applications are not a factor in the consideration of your application.

Knowledge in Action Career Internship Fund (KACIF)

This highly competitive program provides grants ranging from $750 to $3,000 to GW undergraduate and graduate students pursuing internships that are necessarily unpaid. Necessarily unpaid internships are typically those with non-profit, governmental, educational and non-governmental organizations that genuinely lack the financial resources to pay salaries or wages to their interns. In order to maximize the number of students who receive funding, grants for internships in the District of Columbia and other U.S. domestic locations typically range from $750 to $1,500, while grants for international internships typically range from $2,000 to $3,000. KACIF also awards travel grants of up to $300 to cover the costs of using public transportation to and from an unpaid internship.

Summer Application Period

  • Applications open on April 1 and close on April 30
  • Application decisions will be sent via email the third week of May

KACIF Information and Application