How Financial Aid Awarding is determined in the MD Program
When calculating a student’s financial need, the Financial Aid Office uses a standardized analysis formula to determine the total family contribution. Financial disclosure is made via several financial aid application documents, including the US Department of Education’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the College Board's CSS Profile Application.
These two national application processes perform needs analysis to determine:
- Student Aid Index (SAI) - The information provided on the FAFSA is evaluated by the federal government using its Federal Methodology need analysis formula. This formula determines the Student Aid Index (SAI) that is used to determine eligibility for federal student aid only.
- Institutional Expected Family Contribution (EFC) - The information provided on the CSS Profile is evaluated by the College Board using the standardized institutional needs analysis formula. This formula determines the expected family contribution that is used for the purpose of awarding institutional HMS scholarships and loans.
Students applying for HMS need-based financial aid only need to supply parent tax data upon the first time submitting a financial aid application. Once the expected family contribution (EFC) has been determined, this will be the EFC and will remain the same for up to 4 years of the MD program. Students who experience life changes (i.e. changes in number of dependents or marital status) will be required to complete a full reapplication process where the EFC will be reassessed.
The College Board website provides an Expected Family Contribution Estimator for students who wish to get a rough estimate of what the assessed family contribution may look like.
Students may qualify for both federal and institutional aid.
Sections:
How Financial Aid Awards are Packaged
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Scholarship
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Loan Composition
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Expected Family Contribution
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Middle Income Initiative
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Sample Award Packages
Appeals Process
How Financial Aid Awards are Packaged
The combination of aid sources offered to a student is referred to as the financial aid package.
HMS Need-Based Scholarship
HMS assures that high need students have top priority for scholarship aid and this priority is reflected in the formula determining need-based scholarship.
Formula: Tuition and Mandatory Fees minus Institutional EFC equals HMS Scholarship
Institutional scholarships include: HMS Scholarships, General Restricted Scholarships, the Yellow Ribbon Program and the Resident Tutor Policy.
Our financial aid formula ensures a student with a zero expected family contribution will have full coverage of both tuition and mandatory fees. Then, loans can make up the cost of living expenses.
Outside Scholarship Policy
All applicants for HMS financial aid are encouraged to seek additional sources of funding. Outside scholarships generally are first applied toward replacing the calculated parent contribution. After the parent contribution has been fully replaced, a dollar for dollar adjustment is made to the aid package. When making this adjustment, the outside scholarship will be used to decrease the loans in the aid package, beginning with least favorable loan. Only if the outside award exceeds the total amount of student loans would the HMS scholarship be decreased.
In addition to private outside scholarships, this policy also applies to HST research and teaching assistantships.
Loan Composition
The loan composition may be made up of a combination of institutional, federal and private loan sources.
Loan packages will be determined by:
Formula: Total Cost of Attendance minus Institutional EFC minus HMS Scholarship equals Unmet Need
Students with unmet need equal to or more than $7000 will be eligible for an HMS institutional loan.
Institutional loan options include:
- LDS
- HMS Revolving
- Wolfson*
*Beginning with the fall 2024 incoming class:
- Students receiving the Wolfson loan will be awarded $20,000 per year for years 1 and 2.
- In years 3 and 4, students will be awarded Federal Direct Loans only.
- Wolfson loan recipients are eligible for a maximum of $40,000 during their time at HMS.
Typical Composition of Federal and Institutional Loans for Pathways MD students with need for 2024-2025
Loan Type | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 4 (not graduating) | Year 5 |
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Federal Direct Unsubsidized | $23,715 | $27,752 | $29,730 | $27,600 | $28,680 | $27,600 |
Institutional Loan | $ 7,000 | $ 7,000 | $ 7,000 | $ 7,000 | $ 7,000 | $7,000 |
Total Loan | $30,715 | $34,752 | $36,730 | $34,600 | $35,680 | $34,600 |
International or DACA-Eligible Students
International or DACA-eligible students who qualify for loan funding will receive a loan level consistent with their entering class. International and DACA-eligible students entering HMS will have the federal portion of their loan replaced with a supplemental, private loan.
Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
Potential resources available to help meet educational costs always include, but are not limited to, the calculated contribution from the student's income and personal assets, contribution from parents, and if married, contribution from spouse's income and assets. These family resources are grouped together to form the family contribution.