Harvard Law School (HLS) announced Wednesday a $2.9 million increase in financial aid to international students pursuing an LL.M., or master of law, degree.

The increase comes from an unrestricted bequest from the Landon H. Gammon Fund and is expected to increase financial aid for foreign students about $100,000 per year.

Dean of the Law School Robert C. Clark hailed the program and its donors, the Gammon family.

"We are pleased to offer valuable financial assistance to students who come from around the world to advance their legal studies in our LL.M. program," he said in a statement.

Gail J. Hupper, deputy director of the graduate program at HLS, said the funding for international students is sorely needed.

"We have some financial aid available for internationals, but it's nowhere near enough. We do from time to time lose students because of financial aid reasons, and this will address that," she said.

"It's not the solution, but it's a help," she said.

With the exception of permanent residents and students in the U.S. on special asylum or refugee basis, foreign students are not eligible for federal student loans, making it harder for students in need to finance an American education.

"It's a big impediment if they don't have funding from other sources, whether it's their own pockets or their own governments or other sources," Hupper said.

James Lin, the president of the Harvard Law Asia Society, a student organization, said international students often face unique challenges when applying to prestigious law schools abroad.

"I think it's a great thing to make the Law School more international," Lin said.

The Gammon Fund was named by Katherine C. Gammon in honor of her husband, who graduated from the LL.B. program in 1992.

The LL.M. program, a one-year course of study, typically includes 150 students from more than 50 countries.

An HLS statements says the LL.M. program's philosophy stems from the "conviction that a broad and diversified interchange among American lawyers, legal scholars and law students from other countries will be of mutual benefit."

United States citizens are not eligible for the money.