News

Veterans Eligible for Reimbursement of Pennsylvania Bar Examination Fees

July 22, 2003

HARRISBURG, July 22, 2003 — The Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners announced today that eligible veterans and dependents may get reimbursed for the cost of taking the bar examination. Any applicant who is a veteran or eligible person under Section 122 of Public Law 106-419, Chapters 30, 32, and 35 is entitled to use GI Bill benefits to apply for reimbursement for the cost of the bar exam. The recent decision by the Veterans Administration is retroactive to March 1, 2001, for veterans’ education benefits under provisions of Title 38, U.S. Code, Section 3689. The Veterans Administration’s maximum reimbursement per test is $2,000, and there is no limit on the number of tests that may be taken, except that the applicant may not exceed maximum GI Bill entitlement. The bar exam fee is $500, with an additional computer-based testing fee of $100, if an applicant takes the essay portion of the testing on a laptop computer. Mark S. Dows, board of law examiners executive director, worked with the staff of Pennsylvania's State Approving Agency, the Department of Education and the federal Division of Veterans/Military Education to obtain certification of the bar exam as a licensure requirement in the legal community. Dows, who began working for the board in 1998 when he retired as an Air Force officer after serving 21 years, said more than 2,100 applicants registered for the July 2003 bar examination. Dows said 67 of the July 2003 applicants are military veterans. However, other applicants — such as military dependents — may also be eligible for the reimbursement. Dows plans to contact the Pennsylvania Bar Association and local bar associations to solicit their assistance in notifying all eligible lawyers licensed since March 1, 2001, of the retroactivity of the reimbursement program. More information about the Application for Licensing and Certification Testing Fee Reimbursement can be found at the board's Web site at: http://www.pabarexam.org.