The Toll Public Interest Fellows Program at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School is made possible through a generous donation from the Robert and Jane Toll Foundation, founded by Robert Toll L’66 and Jane Toll GSE’66. Like the Toll Public Interest Scholars Program, the Fellows Program reinforces Penn Carey Law’s commitment to service by increasing substantive programming and financial support for students pursuing public interest careers. The Fellows Program has several objectives:
- Strengthen the existing public interest community at Penn Carey Law by deepening students’ relationships with peers, faculty & staff, and alumni.
- Develop students as service-oriented leaders by introducing them to new ways to think about and engage with the causes and communities they care about most.
- Invite students to cultivate the kind of self-awareness necessary for truly impactful, empathy-driven advocacy, activism, and service.
- Ease the financial burden of law school by providing partial tuition scholarships and funded public interest summer employment.
Scholarship Information
Toll Fellows receive a scholarship covering up to seventy-five percent (75%) of their tuition for their second and third years of law school or, depending on other funding received, up to the cost of tuition and fees, as well as a generous stipend for the summer bridging 2L and 3L and for the summer following graduation. Toll Fellows must participate fully in the program’s curriculum, be active in the public interest community, remain enrolled at the Law School, stay in good academic standing, and commit to working in the public interest for during the summer and for at least two years upon graduation or following a clerkship. Adherence to these conditions is required to remain in the program.
Fellow Responsibilities
- Participate in Toll Public Interest Fellows orientation and cohort meetings.
-
Successfully complete at least one course in 2L and one course in 3L geared towards developing specialized knowledge and skills central to public interest law. Courses TPIC has recommended in the past include:
- Equity & Justice Lab, Ayanna Williams
- Law, Race & Communication Theory, Brittany Farr
- Law, Technology & Access to Justice, Claudia Johnson and Miguel Willis
- Leading Social Change, Ben Jealous and Ariel Schwartz
- Litigating Civil Rights Cases, Jon Feinberg
- Negotiations Boot Camp, Rachel Krol and Leah Kang
- Power, Injustice & Change in America, Emily R. Sutcliffe
- Obtain and maintain eligible public interest summer employment during law school.
- Obtain and maintain eligible public interest employment for a minimum of two years immediately following law school or a clerkship.
Application Process
Prospective Toll Fellows will apply to the program during the summer following their 1L year. Applicants will by notified via email by the end of June whether they have been selected for a one-on-one conversation with an alum. Final decisions will be communicated in July/August. Those selected for the program will become Toll Fellows for their second and third years of law school.
