Admissions and Financial Aid Blog

We received the “confidential” news from US News on Wednesday; Vermont Law School is once again # 1 in Environmental Law.  The other schools have great programs, but no one else can even come close to the depth and range of our course offerings, institutes and special programs.

1. Over 50 courses offered each year, 10 areas of environmental specializiation
2. Environmental Tax PolicyInstitute
3. Land Use Institute
4. Institute for Energy and the Environment
5. Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic
6. Environmental Semester in Washington, DC
7. Environmental Internships in a wide variety of settings - local to worldwide
8. Master’s Program in Environmental Law and Policy
9. LLM Program in Environmental Law
10. Joint Degree Program with Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Management
11. Summer Session with Summer Faculty in Vermont
12. Partnership Program with Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China

Congratulations to VLS Faculty, Students and Staff!!
 

The Financial Aid Office is busier then ever. Between awarding new prospective students and presenting financial literacy/planning programs for our current students, things are a happening! Students are back from spring break and the campus has some traffic. It was very quiet last week. New award letters are going out each day. Please remember, before we can create an award letter for you, your FAFSA, VLS Institutional Application and 2006 signed Federal Tax Return must be filed. We have completed roughly 10% of the first year awards. My goal is to have all of the completed files awarded  and mailed out by next Friday. I will keep you posted with my progress!

Today (Tuesday, March 6th) says “Vermont”.  At 5:10 am, the temp is -4 with wind gusts of over 40 mph.  Light snow is predicted.  However, the big event across the state is Town Meeting Day – a very special Vermont tradition on the first Tuesday of March.  Many businesses and schools (including VLS) are closed so that all can participate.

To quote the Burlington Free Press, “It’s that time of year again, when Vermonters gather in town halls, school gyms and fire stations around the state to conduct the people’s business.  It’s an example of direct democracy that is as much a part of Vermont as maple syrup and fall foliage . . . Town meetings still remain a central part of governing most communities here.”

The first town meeting in Vermont was held in Bennington in 1762.  According to the Burlington Free Press, some topics considered at early town meetings included whether to let pigs run free or to allow smallpox vaccinations in the town (some thought vaccinations were dangerous).  Voters also decided what goods or labor could be used as payment for taxes.  Today, we are more likely to vote on town budgets, local school budgets and various referendum and resolution measures.

I may be a considered a “flatlander”, but I am proud to live in Vermont!