Understanding Cost of Attendance

Tuition is charged at a fixed per credit rate regardless of the number of credits.

For the 2024-25 school year, the tuition rate is $1,584 per credit.

During the first year of law school students elect to study one of three different pathways to completing their degree: Full-Time (30 credits), Part-Time (23 credits), or Extended Part-Time (15 credits); the direct expenses are based on these credit numbers.

We've created the Detroit Mercy Law Thrifty Budget to assist students in reducing the amount they may need to finance their law degree. The Thrifty Budget approach focuses on a reduced budget for housing & food, books & supplies, and miscellaneous personal expenses by encouraging students to live with roommates, purchase used books or rent books, and reduce their overall spending while in law school. 

Students are not required to use the Detroit Mercy Law Thrifty Budget but should consider it as an option when looking for housing, purchasing books, and planning other living expenses during law school. First-year law students are awarded financial aid using the Thrifty Budget. If you would like to opt-out of the Thrifty Budget and use the Standard Budget, please contact the Detroit Mercy Law Financial Aid Office.

The standard student cost of attendance budget represents the maximum estimated expenses that a law student will incur during the academic year without submitting additional paperwork. If your personal budget estimates spending more than that, we can increase your budget a reasonable amount but you will need to complete the financial aid re-evaluation paperwork and meet with financial aid. 

Dual JD program allows students to earn both an American JD and a Canadian JD in three years. The cost of earning both of these degrees at once is comparable to the cost of earning one US JD degree. The Dual JD program has a transnational tuition rate for the US JD portion of the degree. This rate reduces the cost of the US JD program. Students pay tuition and certain fees to each institution.

The Detroit Mercy portion of the budget includes the direct costs (tuition & fees) and an estimate of the indirect costs (housing & food, books & supplies, personal/miscellaneous, and transportation). Living expenses (housing & food and miscellaneous) are based on the location of residence; some students choose to live in Metro Detroit while others choose to live in and around Windsor. University of Windsor will determine the living expenses budget for those students who choose to live in Canada. Please note, the Detroit Mercy Law expenses in the estimated cost of attendance are shown in US dollars while the Windsor Law tuition is shown in Canadian dollars. We recommend using a currency converter to see the most up-to-date cost.

Windsor Law tuition and fees for the upcoming school year can be found on the University of Windsor Tuition Fee Estimator. Windsor Law tuition and fees are listed in Canadian Dollars (CAD).

The US Department of Education offers low-interest loans to eligible students to help cover the cost of law school. Federal student loans are an investment in your future but we do encourage students to only borrow what they need. There are two types of federal student loans for which law students are eligible:

• Direct Unsubsidized Loans eligibility is not based on financial need. There is both an annual limit and an aggregate limit. 
• Direct PLUS Loans are loans made to graduate or professional students that pay for education expenses not covered by other financial aid. Eligibility is not based on financial need, but a credit check is required. Borrowers who have an adverse credit history must meet additional requirements to qualify.

Federal student loans offer many benefits compared to other options you may consider when paying for college:

• The interest rate on federal student loans is fixed and usually lower than that on private loans—and much lower than that on a credit card!
• You don’t have to begin repaying your federal student loans until after you leave college or drop below half-time.
• Federal student loans offer flexible repayment plans and options to postpone your loan payments if you’re having trouble making payments.
• If you are employed in the public sector post-graduation while making qualified loan payments, you may be eligible to have a portion of your federal student loans forgiven.

Students often take out both the Direct Unsubsidized Loan and the Graduate PLUS Loan. But we always start with the Direct Unsubsidized Loan as it has more favorable terms as shown in the table below.

*Congress sets the yearly interest rates (July 1 – June 31) based on the 10-year Treasury note. This is typically set between May 1 and June 1 each year.

**The origination fee is the processing fee that the Federal Department of Education deducts from your loan prior to disbursing the funds to the College/University.

Students can also apply for private, credit-based loans to cover all or a portion of their cost of attendance. Comparing the various loans can seem overwhelming, therefore, the University has an excellent tool called ELMSelect that helps students compare a few private lenders who have been reviewed by a University-wide committee. This comparison tool assists students in the information-gathering process. 

This list is not exhaustive. You are not required to borrow from one of the lenders listed here. We acknowledge that you may be offered more favorable terms from lenders you find elsewhere. You may choose to borrow from any lender without penalty.

University of Detroit Mercy is an approved professional university outside of Canada. We suggest Canadian applicants contact financial aid/loan institutions in Canada their appropriate Provincial and Territorial Student Assistance Offices for information on loans, scholarships, and grants.

You can learn more about the scholarships that are offered to incoming students here. The financial aid office is not involved in awarding these scholarships. If you have questions about the scholarship you were awarded with admission, please reach out to lawadmissions@udmercy.edu.

The Financial Aid Office assists students with applying for external scholarship awards. Detroit Mercy Law students often receive scholarships from the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, the Wolverine Bar Association, and State Bar of Michigan Health Law Section. You can learn more about external scholarships here.