STUDENT FINANCIAL AID
Office of Admissions and Financial Aid
OFFICE LOCATION: 518 Scaife Hall
HOURS: Mon - Fri 8:30
a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Telephone: (412) 648-9891 Fax (412) 648-8768
Senior Associate Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid: Edward I. Curtiss, M.D.
Associate Dean for Admissions: Beth Piraino, M.D.
Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid: Paula K. Davis
Assistant Directors of Admissions and Financial Aid: Lisa Wick and Connie
Dobrich
Financial Aid Administrator: Audrey Sites
Financial Aid Coordinator: Amber Fontenot
Admissions and Financial Aid Specialists: Joey Fisher, Elizabeth Thomas and Kimberly Yeakley
The purpose of this section is to inform students of the types of financial assistance available, the eligibility requirements for various types of aid, and the procedures for application relevant to the 2005-2006 academic year.
Financial aid counseling is available to all medical students through the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid. In addition, budgeting and debt management seminars are also presented annually.
Simply stated, financial aid is any grant, scholarship or loan obtained for the express purpose of helping a student meet educationally related expenses. The most common sources of such aid are federal and state agencies, commercial and private lending institutions, the University of Pittsburgh, and private foundations.
Grants/scholarships are free and need not be repaid, although they may carry certain provisions to which recipients must adhere. Loans are borrowed money, offered at various interest rates, which can be repaid over an extended period, usually, but not always, after the student leaves the institution.
The amount and types of financial assistance that a student receives are based on "financial need" as determined by federal, state and institutional guidelines. Financial aid at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is awarded on the basis of documented financial need. Financial aid awards are distributed such that the most favorable program dollars are awarded to those with the higher need.
II. HOW DOES THE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF MEDICINE DETERMINE FINANCIAL NEED?
Financial need is determined by the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid staff through a confidential analysis of financial information which begins when a financial aid applicant's file is complete. (See section IV.A for a list of required data.) The need analysis document is the basis for the determination of financial need. The need analysis document accepted by the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. Parental information must be included on the FAFSA form for those students who wish to be considered for School of Medicine Need-Based funding.
A. DETERMINATION OF A STUDENT'S ANTICIPATED ACADEMIC YEAR EXPENSES
The standard budgets for students' costs of attendance for an academic year are divided into two areas: direct costs (tuition, fees, books/supplies/equipment, board fees, and health insurance) and indirect costs (living expenses such as housing, food, clothing, transportation and miscellaneous expenses).
The average cost of books and living expenses are reviewed bi-annually by the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid in association with the School of Medicine Deans, faculty, and administrators as necessary. This process is to ensure that we have an accurate picture, albeit modest, of how much a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine student requires for books and living expenses. A student's cost of attendance / expense budget is computed only for enrolled periods. The length of the academic year varies with each academic year.
Expenses not directly related to the educational curriculum within the defined academic year cannot be included in the student’s COA. Any adjustments for exceptional costs must be reviewed by the Financial Aid Committee and decisions must be made in accordance with federal financial aid regulations. The Committee is currently reviewing School of Medicine policy on cost of attendance adjustments. Additionally, all debts incurred prior to attendance at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine remain the responsibility of the student. Please be aware that negative credit ratings may cause ineligibility for some student aid programs, specifically the alternative loan programs. You may wish to request a copy of your credit report to review your current credit status.
B. DETERMINATION OF A STUDENT'S FINANCIAL RESOURCES
What is the FAFSA?
It is a need analysis document that is required from any student applying for any financial aid programs. The applicant completes the FAFSA on the Web and submits the completed data to the federal processor, making certain to include our school code (E00516). The federal processor will mail the output document, called the Student Aid Report (SAR), to the student and will send an Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) to the schools listed on the FAFSA. The school must receive the ISIR before any analysis of aid eligibility can be performed.
The FAFSA results provide your estimated financial contribution.
The ISIR documents the information originally listed on the FAFSA form, provides the expected student contribution derived from the need analysis formula called federal methodology, and it also conveys any messages from the Department of Education to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid concerning additional information which the school must require from the aid applicant. The student contribution is the amount of money which the student must be expected to contribute from his/her own income and resources toward the cost of education for the given academic year.
All graduate and professional students are considered "independent" when applying for the Stafford, Unsubsidized Stafford, and alternative loans, meaning that parental information is not required nor is it considered in any case when determining a student's eligibility for these loan programs only
Parental Information Requirement for School of Medicine Need-Based Aid Programs:
Some federal programs recognize students as independent (Stafford, Unsubsidized Stafford) of their parents for financial aid while others require parental data of all applicants regardless of their financial relationship with parents. Because of limited availability of School of Medicine funds, the school is unable to sufficiently fill the needs of dependent and independent students alike. Therefore, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine does not recognize any student as independent for School of Medicine Need-Based Aid sources. For this reason, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine requires parental financial information from all School of Medicine Need-Based Aid applicants and will not consider a request for University financial aid without complete data from both parents.
For School of Medicine Need-Based Aid application purposes, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid uses the FAFSA form to collect the parental information needed to calculate the expected parent contribution. The federal processor will ignore the parental information reported on the FAFSA, but they will electronically transmit the information to the Office of Admissions Financial Aid as part of the student’s ISIR record. If every parental information item on the FAFSA has been completed (with either a zero or another number), the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid will use the federal methodology formula to electronically calculate the expected parental contribution. If a parental information item on the FAFSA is left blank, even if the answer should be zero, the Office of Admissions Financial Aid must consider the application for School of Medicine Need-Based Aid to be incomplete as we are not permitted to make assumptions concerning the answers to these questions. In determining the amount parents of students are expected to contribute, such items as income, assets, family size, and number of other children under age 24 in college, are considered.
In cases where a divorced parent has remarried, the student has the option of using parent and stepparent. In truly exceptional cases where a parent's whereabouts are unknown, a student may submit a request that the requirement for the respective parent’s information be waived. To do this, the student must present 1) a personal letter to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid explaining in detail the family situation, and 2) the situation must be documented in a separate letter by a professional third party: clergyman, attorney, social worker, or family physician who has personal knowledge of the family. In cases such as those just listed, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid reserves the right to request supplemental documentation. Such requests will be reviewed and decisions of approval or denial will be made. Should the student’s request that the requirement for the respective parent’s information be waived be denied, the application for School of Medicine Need-Based Aid will be considered incomplete until the information for the parent in question has been submitted.
As financial aid counselors, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid staff realizes that for some students, the expected parental contribution derived is not always a reflection of the parents’ willingness to contribute financially, and therefore the need analysis system can be frustrating. However, we ask that you keep in mind that, ultimately, the responsibility for financing a student's cost of a medical education lies with the student, and when resources for financially needy students are limited, the student's family must always be considered a potential resource.
C. DETERMINATION OF FINANCIAL NEED
Financial need for the Federal Stafford, Federal Unsubsidized Stafford, and Alternative Loans is determined according to the following formula:
Cost of Attendance less Student Contribution
= Documented Financial Need -- eligibility for total financial aid assistance
Financial need for School of Medicine Need-Based Aid programs is determined according to the following formula:
Cost of Attendance less Student Contribution less Parent Contribution
= Institutional Documented Financial Need
this figure is used to measure your financial need with that of other
School of Medicine Need-Based Aid applicants
III. SOURCES OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Note: Students are strongly urged to utilize any family resources available, even in the form of loans from family members and from private sources, since more favorable interest rates and repayment terms may be possible.
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has two categories of financial aid programs: the Federal loan programs and School of Medicine Need-Based Aid.
| Stafford Loan (unsubsidized) | $ 8,500 max. per year or need |
| Unsubsidized Stafford Loan | MS 1 $32,222 max. or remaining financial need per year |
| MS 2 $32,222 max or remaining financial need per year | |
| MS 3 $36,667 max. or remaining financial need per year | |
| MS 4 $34,444 max. or remaining financial need per year | |
| Alternative Loan Programs | remaining financial need up to cost of attendance per year |
Application deadlines: there are no "deadlines" for the federal loan programs; however, it is suggested that students apply for these loans 90 days before they will need the loan proceeds or by May 1 for the upcoming academic year.
B. Institutional Aid Programs -- for which a student's parental information must be considered:
School of Medicine Low-Interest Loans
School of Medicine Scholarships (need-based)
Primary Care Loan (PCL)
Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (SDS)
Applicants from low to middle income families are encouraged to apply for
School of Medicine Need-Based Aid.
All enrolled students or students accepted for enrollment are eligible to apply for financial aid. In late January of each year, all medical students are notified via email that the financial aid applications for the following academic year are available on the OAFA website. A student must reapply for financial aid each year. Each financial aid application is thoroughly reviewed, treated confidentially, and considered on an individual basis.
In addition to completion of the following instructions, financial aid recipients are expected to fulfill the following obligations:
· Explain, in writing, at the time of application, any data in your application which may be inconsistent; otherwise, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid reserves the right to make adjustments to your need analysis based on reasonable assumptions drawn from other data submitted.
· Report in writing to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid any changes of circumstances which may significantly improve or diminish your financial resources or those of your family.
· Report in writing to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid any aid received from outside sources. Federal program regulations require an adjustment in a financial aid package when funds from all sources are in excess of calculated need.
A. REQUIRED APPLICATION MATERIALS FOR 2004-2005
The following items are not optional, but required. Therefore, a financial aid application will not be considered complete and no further processing will occur until all items are received by the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid.
1) To apply ONLY for Stafford, Unsubsidized Loans, and Alternative Loans, the following is required:
When completing your application, please access our website to obtain the most current information and application forms.
2005-2006 Free Application for Federal Financial Aid (FAFSA)
IMPORTANT: You must list our school code in the school section:
E00516
Application for Financial Aid
Submit completed AFA (Form A) to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid.
2004 Federal Tax Return
Submit a signed copy of your Federal Tax Return with all pages
and schedules to the OAFA. If a 2004 tax return will not be filed,
indicate such on the appropriate section on the Application for Financial Aid.
Alien Registration Card
If applicable, submit a copy of both sides of your current INS card.
Federal Stafford Loan Master Promissory Note (after first submission,
valid for 10 years)
Stafford Loan Request Form (Form B)
Alternative Loan Application, if necessary
2) To apply for both School of Medicine Need-Based Aid and the federal loans, the following is required in addition to those requirements listed above:
When completing your application, please access our website to obtain the most current information and application forms.
Parental information on FAFSA
Complete all sections requesting parental information. DO NOT LEAVE BLANKS.
Failure to complete all sections will result in an incomplete application for
School of Medicine Need-Based Aid. Be sure to complete parental asset section
even if FAFSA form directions instruct you not to. See our FAFSA Instructions
for further reference.
School of Medicine Need-Based Aid Application
Submit completed School of Medicine Need-Based Aid Application (Form C) to
the OAFA.
Parents’ 2004 Federal Tax Returns
Submit signed copies of your parents' 2004 Federal Tax Returns with
all pages and schedules to the OAFA. If a parent does not intend to file
a 2004 federal income tax return, please contact the OAFA for the required form.
Further Application Notes:
The equivalent of U.S. tax forms, where applicable, or other governmental verification of income will be required for parents living abroad.
A tax extension from the Internal Revenue Service is not an extension from the school as far as meeting financial aid deadlines.
Report to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid if siblings reported as expected to enroll as full-time students for 2005-06 do not do so. This obligation extends throughout the 2005-06 academic year.
B. REQUESTS FOR CONSIDERATION FOR A LATE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE NEED-BASED AWARD
The deadline for School of Medicine Need-Based Aid for 2005-06 was April 1, 2005. The Office of Admissions and Financial Aid must adhere to this deadline in order to assess the financial need of all students and allocate funds in time for newly-admitted MS1 students to make a decision by May 1 and to allow us to process the aid applications for rising MS4 students who begin their academic year in June. As a standard policy, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid will not review applications for School of Medicine Need-Based Aid that were not complete by the deadline; this will have no affect on the processing of federal loan applications as long as the criteria for those programs have been met. However, a student whose application became complete after the deadline date may request in writing consideration for School of Medicine Need-Based Aid. Late awards will be made according to the following guidelines: availability of funds, timeliness of application completion (those who completed their application files closest to the deadline will be given first consideration), and eligibility for funding according to the criteria used for the 2005-06 academic year awarding of School of Medicine Need-Based Aid
C. VERIFICATION PROCESS
For Federal Loan programs: The
verification process was instituted by the Department of Education to protect
the integrity of financial aid programs. If the federal government selects your
aid application, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid must verify all of
the information reported on your FAFSA/ISIR before any aid applications can be
processed further. If the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid determines
that any additional information is necessary for this verification process, you
will be contacted by mail. You will have 15 days from the date of our request
to respond in writing to our request. Further processing of your application
cannot occur until the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid is satisfied with
the documentation submitted for verification.
To protect the integrity of the financial aid programs, the School of Medicine
Office of Admissions and Financial Aid maintains federally mandated authority to
select any application for verification and to require supporting documentation
to the satisfaction of the School of Medicine before any loan applications will
be processed.
For School of Medicine Need-Based Aid programs: The Office of Admissions and Financial Aid will conduct a thorough review of all materials submitted by the aid applicant to confirm the accuracy and consistency of data reported. Should inconsistencies be found and you have not provided an explanation in writing at the time of application (on the documents provided or in a separate letter) concerning any data in your application which may be inconsistent, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid reserves the right to make adjustments to your need analysis based on reasonable assumptions drawn from other data submitted to protect the integrity of the financial aid programs. Should the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid request supplemental information, this information must be received and acceptable by the date specified in our correspondence; otherwise, your application will be considered incomplete and, therefore, you will not be considered for School of Medicine Need-Based Aid for this academic year.
IMPORTANT: If the "Verification Form" or any supplemental information requested by the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid to verify the accuracy of your application is not received by the stated deadline, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid has the right to consider your application for aid withdrawn. For federal aid consideration, you may reactivate your application by supplying the information. Your loan application will be processed following those of on-time applicants. For School of Medicine Need-Based Aid, if your information is received after the stated deadline and you wish to be considered for a "late award", refer to section III b. for procedures. In any case, if you miss the deadline, you will be responsible for all late charges assessed on your University account.
All aid authorized or awarded is to be used solely for meeting direct educational costs and related living expenses. Additionally, it is the policy of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine to offer federal and institutional funds only to students who are not currently in default on a student loan.
All loans and scholarships processed by the OAFA are awarded for a full academic year (Fall and Spring) and are disbursed in two equal installments - half for Fall term and half for Spring term.
Stafford, Unsubsidized Stafford, and Alternative loan applications are processed beginning in May and students are notified as their individual loan applications are certified and approved. Processing priority is based on when the applicants’ academic year begins and when the Fall semester tuition payment is due. The current schedule indicates that complete applications for rising MS-4 are processed first, followed by MS-3, MS-2, and MS-1.
Notification of School of Medicine Need-Based Aid awards for the upcoming academic year are made during May. For students who are not eligible for School of Medicine Need-Based Aid but who still demonstrate financial need, we recommend the Unsubsidized Stafford or Alternative loan programs in addition to the maximum subsidized Stafford.
Over awards: The School of Medicine reserves the right to reconsider offers and commitments of financial assistance in the event that a student’s total aid awarded from all sources exceeds calculated financial need. Due to financial aid not reported at the time of awarding, a student may ultimately be awarded aid in excess of financial need. Federal regulations also require that financial aid not exceed the student’s documented need at any time. For this reason it may be necessary to reduce federal and/or institutional aid funds previously awarded. If an adjustment is not possible because the funds have been utilized by the student, an over award may result. In the case of an over award, the University will make the necessary refund to the respective aid program immediately and the student will be required to reimburse the University to continue registration status.
VI. DEBT MANAGEMENT COUNSELING
The majority of medical students rely upon student loans to pay for medical school. Good debt management begins with thoroughly understanding the implications of borrowing educational loans, understanding how financial choices made today will affect a student’s finances, goals, and lifestyle both now and in the future. The Office of Admissions and Financial Aid counselors are always available to schedule appointments to discuss a student’s financial concerns.
Careers in Medicine Financial Aid Seminar
The OAFA joins the Office of Student Affairs to discuss a current analysis of how educational debt may or may not affect career choices.
Graduating Seniors’ Exit Interviews
In accordance with federal aid regulations regarding educational loans, exit interviews are required of all students who borrowed any educational loans during attendance at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Exit interviews are held during the final semester of the senior year, prior to graduation. During the exit interview, a student borrower's repayment options and obligations are discussed in detail.
VII. FINANCIAL AID AND SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS
For a student to be eligible to receive financial aid, satisfactory academic progress or probationary status must be maintained as outlined in the Student Handbook "Policy on Normal Academic Progress" and "Guidelines for Promotion."
For students who repeat an entire academic year, this may, depending upon prior financial aid history, affect the student's eligibility for financial assistance from specific aid programs. Students anticipating such a situation are advised to meet with a student aid counselor to discuss the effects of repeating an academic year.
For Next Year, 2006-2007:
School of Medicine Need-Based Aid Application Process
Applications for financial aid for the 2006-2007 academic year will be made available on our website in February 2006. An email will be sent to every medical student in late January with notification of the financial aid application timeline. The deadline will most likely be April 15 2006. It is recommended that students remind their parents to complete federal tax returns early so that students are in a position to meet the School of Medicine Need-Based Aid deadline.
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