Equal Justice Foundation Stipend Requirements

EJF cannot guarantee if you meet these requirements, you will definitely get funding. We would love to, but we just truly don’t know how many people will apply or how much money we’ll have. Every year we raise as much money as we can and we give out every last cent for stipends!

To be eligible for an EJF summer or bar prep stipend you must have:

(1) an unpaid public interest job for the summer of 2023 OR a paid public interest job upon graduation, AND 

(2) at least 20 volunteer hours with EJF. *

*Students who do not fulfill the 20-hour minimum requirement are encouraged to apply but are still not guaranteed a stipend offer.

Fulfilling the 20-hour requirement:

EJF hours may be earned by volunteering at events, tabling, and attending public interest events on campus, subject to the following conditions:

• Educational hours: At least 1 hour of the minimum 20 must be earned by either

  • (1) attending a public interest event on campus, OR 

    • Unless otherwise designated by EJF, only Public Interest Center events fit this category. 

    • Like attending an EJF-hosted event, you receive ½ of the hours you were there for a public interest event. For example, if you attend Public Interest Friday for 5 hours, you receive 2.5 in credit hours.

  • (2) conducting a 20-minute informational interview with a current public interest practitioner 

    • One such 20-minute interview counts as 1 hour

    • Note: As part of the stipend application process in the spring, you will be asked to submit a 250-word essay describing the event you attended or the informational interview you conducted.

    • No more than 5 hours of the minimum 20 may come from attending public interest events on campus or conducting informational interviews. Once beyond the minimum 20 hours, there is no limit on earning additional educational hours.

• Students may receive 1/2 hour of credit for each EJF-hosted event they attend.

  • Example: If you attend the EJF auction for 2 hours, you receive 1 hour of EJF credit.

• Volunteering: Students will receive full credit for the time they volunteer at EJF-hosted events. 

  • Examples of volunteering: Acting as a timekeeper at the Race for Equal Justice, recruiting professors for Dress a Professor, finding sponsors for the Auction, AND MORE!

• Tabling: Students may receive full credit hours for “tabling”, manning a table in the lobby of the law school for merch sales, ticketing, and other fundraising efforts.

  • No more than 5 hours of your minimum 20 can be earned by tabling. Once beyond the minimum 20 hours, there is no limit on earning additional tabling hours.

• If you are a Public Interest Student Ambassador, up to 5 hours of work done as an Ambassador may be applied to the minimum 20-hour requirement.

Please fill out your hours as you complete them throughout the year via the hours tracker Google Form. You are responsible for keeping track of your own hours!

Eligible Public Interest Jobs 

EJF defines public interest work as any position at a nonprofit, judicial, or government organization at which the applicant will be performing legal work (i.e., the position must be solely for law students and not for undergraduate or graduate interns). For any summer stipend this work must be unpaid. 

Securing a full-time position will be considered more favorably during the stipend application than a part-time position, but applicants with part-time positions are nonetheless encouraged to apply. EJF reserves the option to offer a reduced stipend for part-time positions.

EJF Stipend Application Process

Students must apply for an EJF stipend in the spring. The application will not be released until then. As part of the application, students will be asked to submit:

• A full tally of the EJF hours completed during the year 

• A statement explaining the student’s commitment to public interest work

• 250-word statements for each public interest event attended for EJF credit or each informational interview conducted 

• A sponsor employer commitment letter

Additional Information 

The 20-hour volunteer requirement is the minimum for stipend eligibility; hours earned beyond the minimum 20 will increase students’ likelihood of receiving a stipend offer. 

Students who do not fulfill the 20-hour minimum requirement are encouraged to apply but are still not guaranteed a stipend offer. 

Please note that the University does not allow students to get funding from EJF AND KASIF or Dean Morrison’s Summer Stipends concurrently. We hold our applications intentionally later than these other funding methods to give students the opportunity to try to find funding elsewhere first.

If you have any questions regarding EJF stipends, please email ejfstipends@law.gwu.edu.