Financial Aid Office

Location: Room Sl-855, First Floor
Telephone: 508-856-2265
Fax: 508-856-1899
URL: http://umassmed.edu/financialaid/index.aspx

The Financial Aid Office administers federal and institutional student loans and gift aid. To be eligible for financial assistance, students must be accepted for admission, enrolled in good standing or making satisfactory academic progress and be enrolled in at least 9 credit hours each fall and spring (see Registrar: matriculated student status). In addition, they must neither owe a repayment on a Federal Pell Grant, a Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, or State Incentive Grant, nor be in default on a Federal Perkins Loan or Federal Family Education Loan received for study at any post-secondary institution.

Furthermore, students must demonstrate either federal eligibility or financial need to be eligible for most financial aid programs. Because financial aid is awarded annually, all financial aid recipients need to reapply each year. The maximum amount of aid a student may receive in a given year may not exceed the cost of attendance as defined by the U.S. Department of Education. This includes any external scholarships, grants or loans. More detailed information is available in the catalog and the financial aid website. 

Satisfactory Academic Progress
Financial aid is available to medical students who matriculate at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and maintain satisfactory academic progress in the four-year medical school curriculum, as defined in the academic policies (Section 3, VI, Criteria for Academic Review and Advancement) of the Student Handbook. It is expected that most students will complete graduation requirements in four years. For either academic or personal reasons, a student may require more than four years to complete the curriculum and will qualify for financial aid only if he/she advances through specified percentages of the Medical School curriculum as defined in Section 3, VI of the Student Handbook.

Satisfactory academic progress toward the MD degree, along this time scale, will be monitored by the Office of Medical Education through its Basic Science Academic Evaluation Board (for pre-clinical courses) and Clinical Science Academic Evaluation Board (for clinical clerkships and electives), according to their guidelines (see Section 3, VI, Criteria for Academic Review and Advancement). The timetable may also be extended and still be deemed as satisfactory academic progress by the evaluation boards for other extenuating circumstances. These might include a death in the family, prolonged illness or extended programs based on physical or mental disability. In such cases, financial aid may be made available to the student after the student files an appeal for additional resources with the Financial Aid Subcommittee of the Student Affairs Committee. It will be the responsibility of the student to provide this subcommittee with documentation detailing the nature of the extenuating circumstances and a specific plan for completing the medical curriculum. Appeals are heard and approved on a payment period basis. Once approved, a student is considered on financial aid probation for one payment period, and is able to appeal for one additional payment period before re-establishing satisfactory academic progress.

Financial Aid Appeals
Anyone seeking adjustments to aid packages, need analysis or cost of attendance should first seek clarification or submit a written request to the Financial Aid Office. Anyone dissatisfied with the Financial Aid Office’s response should write Deborah Harmon Hines, PhD, vice provost for school services. Anyone dissatisfied when the vice provost concurs with the Financial Aid Office may write an appeal to the Financial Aid Subcommittee of the Student Affairs Committee.  Anyone still dissatisfied with the decision of the subcommittee may write to the Student Affairs Committee and may present the case in person.

Emergency Loan Policy
I. Eligibility: Interest-free emergency loans of up to $1,000 are available on a short-term basis to enrolled students with true emergencies (but not poor budgeting) who meet the following criteria:

A. Student does not owe past due tuition, fees, or other charges to the Medical school; B. Student has never been past due on a previous emergency loan; C. Student is in good academic standing, and; D. Application for emergency loan and supporting documentation (i.e. completed financial aid application) is approved by the director or assistant director of financial aid.

II. Repayment: Emergency loans must be repaid at the earliest date of when any one of the following occurs:

A. Receipt of financial aid funds;

B. Withdrawal or graduation from the Medical School; or

C. Arrival of established due date – within 90 days of loan application.

III. Default: Students who do not repay emergency loans in full as specified in Section II are in default and subject to the following penalties:

A. The student will be administratively withdrawn from the Medical School until the loan is paid in full;

B. If re-admitted, the student will be ineligible to receive additional emergency loan funds during remaining years of attendance at the Medical School.

C. The borrower will be subject to all available means of collection.  If Medical School collection efforts have been exhausted and the debt remains unpaid the debt may automatically be assigned to intercept from any other state or federal payments that are due to the borrower, or scheduled to be paid to the borrower, including tax refunds under M.G.L. c.62

D.  The debt may also be assigned to a collection agency for collection and subject to late charges.

Note:  Federal programs are subject to legislative and regulatory change at any time without prior notice.