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 expected 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 Collegeboard's CSS Profile Application.
These two national application processes perform needs analysis to determine Expected Family Contribution. The formulas are nationally standardized, developed and maintained in partnership with financial aid professionals and economists.
Expected Family Contributions (EFC)
Packaging Financial Aid Awards
Sample Award Packages
Appeals Process
Cost of Attendance
Family Contribution
Expected Family Contributions (EFC)
Federal EFC: The information provided on the FAFSA is evaluated by the federal government using its Federal Methodology need analysis formula. This formula determines the expected family contribution that is used to determine eligibility for federal student aid only.
Institutional 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.
Packaging Financial Aid Awards
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. Our financial aid formula ensures a student with a zero expected family contribution will have full coverage of both tuition and mandatory fees.
“Tuition and Mandatory Fees Minus Institutional EFC Equals HMS Scholarship”
Loans will make up the cost of living expenses at HMS. The loan programs may be made up of a combination of institutional, federal and private loan sources. Loan packages will be determined by:
“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.
Typical Composition of Federal and Institutional Loans for Pathways MD students with need for 2022-2023
Loan Type | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 4 not grad | Year 5 |
Federal Direct Unsubsidized | $20,627 | $26,984 | $26,362 | $25,192 | $25,358 | $25,186 |
Institutional Loan* | $ 7,000 | $ 7,000 | $ 7,000 | $ 7,000 | $ 7,000 | $7,000 |
Total Loan | $27,627 | $33,984 | $33,362 | $32,192 | $32,358 | $32,186 |
*LDS, HMS Revolving/Wolfson loans
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.
Institutional Scholarship Policy
Includes HMS Scholarships, General Restricted Scholarships, the Yellow Ribbon Program and the Resident Tutor Policy.
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.
*The Outside Scholarship Policy does not apply to students receiving funding that covers full tuition and fees, such as VA Yellow Ribbon, Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program and MD/PhD funding. Learn more about types of funding.
Sample Award Cases
Applying the policies described above, the following shows three types of financial aid awards given in the 2022-23 academic year. It is important to note that if the students in these sample cases were unable to obtain the calculated family contribution, they would need to make up the shortfall from other resources. These resources might include additional unsubsidized loans or Federal Work-Study earnings.
International and DACA-eligible students would receive similar awards, with federal loan programs replaced by additional HMS loan or private loan.