In the Jesuit tradition, public service has always been a central part of the Boston College Law School experience. BC Law supports a wide array of educational, pro-bono and student activities designed to create opportunities for students to use their legal skills to serve those less fortunate than themselves. Home to the John J. Curtin Jr. and Mary Daly Curtin Center for Public Interest Law, the Holocaust Human Rights Project and the Shelter Legal Services Program, BC Law was recently ranked by National Jurist Magazine as having one of the year's top 20 public interest law programs in the country.
Recognizing that public interest legal positions offer lower salaries than those in the private sector, Boston College Law School is also committed to helping students make public interest employment financially feasible. In 2006, BC Law provided over $80,000 in loan repayment assistance to graduates pursuing public interest careers.The Boston College Loan Repayment Assistance Program, established in 1988, provided financial awards to 53 graduates last year. Several new public interest scholarships and loan repayment programs have been added, including the annual $10,000 Drinan Family Award, named after former BC Law Dean Robert Drinan, S.J. In addition, over sixty students receive stipends each year to engage in summer public interest work.
Over the past several years BC Law graduates have received prestigious post-graduate fellowships in the public interest field, including the Skadden Fellowship and the Soros Justice Fellowship.
