Career Option Assistance Program (COAP)

From 1989 through 2010, more than 1,500 Yale Law School graduates have participated in COAP, receiving over $29 million in benefits. In 2010 alone, COAP disbursed more than $3 million in benefits to over 300 graduates.

YLS alumni in COAP have recently worked for (among many others):

• The U.S. State Department
• Human Rights Watch
• Private firms in Washington, D.C., Jackson, Mississippi, and Seattle, Washington
• The Texas Defender Service
• The New York State Attorney General  
• The NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Note: Deferred students should refer to COAP terms specific to the class year to which they were originally admitted.

COAP Highlights

COAP is:

Inclusive
- open to all recent Yale Law School graduates
- includes all jobs in all sectors – public interest, government, academia and private practice

Comprehensive
- covers law school loans
- includes some undergraduate loans

Flexible
- no minimum participation commitment
- participants can move in and out of the program as needs change
- part-time work may be covered
- individual circumstances and special needs are taken into account

Family Friendly
- up to six months maternity/paternity leave per new child
- deductions are provided for child/dependent care

Further COAP details and descriptions by class

If you are unable to log in to COAP and need to recover your NetID or password, please visit the Yale NetID portal.