Terra Jones, Director

Genene Strickland, Associate Director

Financing your Medical Education: Gaining assistance and Managing the Loan Burden

Agenda

• What does it cost to attend medical school?• What type of Financial Aid is available?• How do I apply for financial aid?• What do I do after I am offered financial aid?• What loan repayment options are available?• Financial Literacy & Scholarship Resources

What Does It Cost to Attend Medical School?

What Does It Cost To Attend Medical School?

Direct Costs• Tuition• Health Insurance• Dental Insurance• Matriculation Fee• Imaging Fee

Indirect Costs

• Rent & Utilities• Books & Supplies• Equipment• Transportation• Personal Expenses

Average Cost of Attendance - Public Schools = $53,685Average Cost of Attendance – Private Schools = $72,344

What Types of Financial Aid is Available?

• Federal Financial Aid• Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan• Federal Graduate PLUS Loan• Federal Perkins Loan• Federal Work-study

• State Grants & Scholarships• Senatorial/Delegate• MD Graduate & Professional

Types of Financial Aid cont…

• Institutional Scholarships• Need Based• Merit

• Outside Scholarships• Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship• National Health Service Corps• National Medical Fellowships• American Medical Association

How Do I Apply for Financial Aid?

• FAFSA- Free Application for Federal Student Aid

• Requires only student information• Applications available for submission on January 1• Submit by priority awarding date. March 15th

• Application to qualify for scholarship (need access or college profile).

• Usually requires student and parental information

• Institutional Financial Aid Application

What do I do next?Apples to Apples Comparison

Budget Components School A School B

Tuition

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Mandatory Fees

Books & Supplies

Rent & Utilities

Food

Uniforms & Laundry

Transportation & Insurance

Personal

Total Cost of Attendance

Know What Questions to Ask?

Does the tuition increase each year? If yes, will my scholarship be increased to cover the increase in tuition?Does my financial aid package

cover my entire Cost of Attendance?

How do I fund the “gap” between my COA and award package?

What was the average loan indebtedness of the last graduating class?

Is my scholarship based on need or merit funding?

How was my financial aid package calculated?

What percentage of my aid package is scholarship, what percentage is loan?

Is my scholarship guaranteed for four years? If not, what is required to maintain it?

Will my institutional scholarship be affected if I receive an outside scholarship?

What financial literacy programs are offered?

What are my Loan Repayment Options?

• Standard Repayment• 10 year repayment• Minimizes repayment time and total interest paid• Extended, Graduated, Income Contingent

• Income – Based Repayment• Offers the lowest monthly payment by capping the monthly payment at 15% of discretionary income.• Payments adjusted each year according to changes in income and family size.• Balance forgiven after 20 years.

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness• Balance on loans forgiven for students after working 10 years in a public service profession and making 120

on-time loan payments.

• Loan Repayment Programs• National Institutes of Health- repayment of loans after completing qualifying research.

http://www.lrp.nih.gov/index.aspx

• National Health Service Corps - Three loan repayment options for primary care providers who work at approved sites in communities in need. http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loanrepayment/index.html

• Armed Forces LRP – payment of loans after serving in any branch of the armed services.

• AmeriCorps – payments towards college costs or Title IV loans after graduation after completion of term of service. http://www.americorps.gov

Financial Literacy Resources

• Student loan information• Repayment information and calculators• Updates in federal regulations

StudentLoans.gov provides . . .

Mint.com provides . . .

•Money management tools• Automatic updates of spending patterns.

AAMC First for Medical Education provides. . .

• Interactive modules on credit cards, credit reports, budgeting • AAMC Toolkit• MedLoans Organizer & Calculator

Financial Aid Resources

• FAFSA: www.fafsa.ed.gov

• STUDENTLOANS.GOV: www.Studentloans.gov

• NSLDS: www.nslds.ed.gov

• FIRST: https://www.aamc.org/services/first/

• Aspiring Docs: https://www.aamc.org/students/aspiring/

Scholarship Resources

• American Medical Association (AMA) • Association of American Medical Colleges

(AAMC)• College Board• National Institutes of Health (NIH)• School Financial Aid Office