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ASU Pay It Forward

What is the Pay It Forward program?

The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University is a place where students can experience a higher degree of opportunity on their road to becoming a great lawyer. In support of this effort, ASU Law has established the ASU Pay It Forward program to increase the ability of its students to take advantage of experiential opportunities such as externships, internships, and pro bono work beyond the Phoenix area. As part of the Pay It Forward program, ASU Law provides financial support to students securing qualified experiential opportunities, in exchange for a promise that they will donate the amount received to the Pay It Forward program to benefit future students within five years of graduation.

Eligibility

All current law students are eligible to apply. JD students must have completed one year of law school coursework. Graduating students may also apply for funding for opportunities in the term immediately following graduation (usually summer). Students may pre-apply for funding, but disbursement of funds is subject to proof of acceptance of the opportunity. The experiential opportunity must be located outside the Phoenix metro area. The amount requested will require supporting documentation.

Application process

Those interested are encouraged to submit their application as soon as possible. Upon request, the applicant must provide additional information within one week of the request. Award decisions will be made on a rolling basis.

Applicants are encouraged to fully review the application guide before submitting, and to meet with the director of Financial Services before accepting the award to address any potential funding or financial aid questions.

Click below to read the student application guide and frequently asked questions, and apply.

Application Student Application Guide and FAQs

Recent opportunities students in the Pay it Forward program have participated in:

Future of Privacy Forum, Washington, D.C. (internship)
Riverside County District Attorney's Office, Riverside, CA (internship)
McCain Institute in the Counterterrorism and National Security Program, Washington, D.C. (legal extern)
Sharut HaDin Israel Law Center, Jerusalem, Israel (internship)
Birmingham City University, Universal Periodic Review, Birmingham, UK (research assistant)
House Judiciary Committee, Washington, D.C. (externship)
Judge Chutkan, District Court for the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C. (judicial externship)
Court of Federal Claims, Washington, D.C. (externship)
Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, Brooklyn, NY (externship)
18th District Attorney’s Office, Centennial, CO (certified student attorney)
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Washington, D.C. (internship)
United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Madrid, Spain (member of the ASU delegation)
Chief Counsel’s Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Washington, D.C. (internship)
Palm Beach County Public Defender's Office, West Palm Beach, FL (training program)
Department of the Interior Southwest Region Solicitor's Office, Albuquerque, NM (internship)
United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
RadicalxChange Conference, Detroit, MI (attendee)
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, San Francisco, CA (internship)
Washington State Court of Appeals, Tacoma, WA
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of the General Counsel, Washington, D.C.
Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, Detroit, MI
Riverside County District Attorney's Office, Riverside, CA
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, New York, NY
Kafoury & McDougal, Portland, OR
Coconino County Attorney's Office, Flagstaff, AZ