The cost of licensing exams varies with the number of requirements in the state where a student wants his or her license. Each state assigns a particular number of credit hours for passing exams, and if a student wishes to have two years of law school credited towards his or her degree before starting the bar exam process, it will cost more in those first two years than it would if a student took no credit at all. Likewise, if a person is going for a career as a practicing lawyer, the cost of licensing exams will differ depending on whether the licenses are granted after completion of the state bar exam or immediately upon successful completion. Many lawyers also opt to take additional courses in preparation for their bar exam; however, these classes are not amounting to a stipend and do not count towards that exam’s total number of hours.

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Because there is a teacher shortage in many states, including New York, California, Maryland, and Virginia, higher education institutions are allowed to charge the full tuition price for an aspiring attorney because there is not a sufficient supply of teachers to fulfill the needs of the legal system. As is evident from the news, the cost of licensing exams is soaring because there is a teacher shortage. In some cases, costs are up to 15 percent more for aspiring lawyers who want to take the exam after completing their undergraduate degree than they were when they took the exam prior to getting their bachelor’s degree. These costs are especially burdensome for working parents with children studying at daycare centers and other community colleges.

A student may be eligible for a cost of instruction allowance, which is subtracted from the cost of any course fees in order to compute his or her eligibility for federal financial aid. However, there are certain courses that cost more than others; hence, in order to qualify for a cost of instruction allowance, a student must earn lower grades than average in order to be eligible. The exact formula for calculating a cost of instruction allowance is not publicly available, although it is likely that it involves percentage rates rather than specific amounts. A student may also be eligible for assistance with continuing education, but he or she must not be enrolled in any course for two years or less before the start of the student’s third year at a post-secondary institution. Students who wish to receive assistance in paying for their education should apply to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance instead of applying directly to the National Association of Schools of Law.