Financial Aid

The School of Medicine offers financial assistance to qualified students. Nearly 90% of Tulane's medical students receive funding from one or more of the various available financial aid programs. Assistance may be in the form of scholarships or loans: federal, private, or institutional. While most available financial assistance is need-based, Tulane offers a limited number of scholarships that are awarded on the basis of academic achievement and merit.

Application for all need-based aid, scholarships and/or loans, is made through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and, for scholarship consideration, the Tulane Medical School's Financial Aid Addendum. The FAFSA and Addendum forms are available from the Tulane University Health Sciences Center (TUHSC) Office of Financial Aid (note: financial aid forms are automatically sent to all admitted students). Although all medical students are considered "independent" for Title IV aid eligibility, students are requested to submit parental information when completing the FAFSA and Addendum. Otherwise, an applicant's consideration for various scholarship and loan programs will be adversely affected. Parental data, including a copy of parents' tax returns, is required for consideration of any Title VII aid programs offered by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Need is determined on the basis of federal methodology, using information provided on the FAFSA. Federal aid is awarded on the basis of need (in accordance with mandatory federal guidelines), the university's cost of attendance budget, and the availability of funds. Consideration for financial aid requires that a student has been offered admission and has completed the financial aid application process. Financial aid awards are generally mailed beginning in late April. Since applicants need to allow adequate time (two to four weeks) for the federal processor to process the FAFSA and forward the necessary data to the financial aid office, it is important for candidates to file FAFSA forms early. Students who delay their financial aid application process may be seriously disadvantaged in the allocation of funds.

For more definitive and updated information students should contact the following:

TUHSC Office of Financial Aid
http://www.finaidhsc.tulane.edu
1430 Tulane Ave., TB1
New Orleans, LA 70112-2699
(504) 988-6135
(504) 988-6136 FAX

The following is a summary of the types of loan and scholarship programs, which are available to Tulane medical students:

LOANS

Federal Loans

Department of Education loan programs include Federal Stafford loans (subsidized and unsubsidized) and Federal Perkins loans; while Department of Health and Human Services offers the Primary Care Loan (PCL) program. All of the aforementioned loans are deferrable while attending medical school. The PCL loan requires the borrower to sign an agreement to practice primary care medicine (family practice, general internal medicine, or pediatrics) until the loan is fully repaid. To qualify for federal loan funds students must complete the FAFSA and any other requested documentation.

Private Loans

Tulane's School of Medicine also participates with several lenders in offering non-federal credit-based private alternative loans [such as the AAMC Medloans' ALP loan; the Access Group's MedAccess loan; Nellie Mae's MedExcel loan; or PNC Bank's T.H.E. loan]. While private loans tend to have terms that are less generous than the federal loan programs, the loans are specifically designed for medical students and the costs are below current market rates.

Tulane Loans

The medical school also administers a few endowed long-term loan programs.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Tulane School of Medicine Scholarship Programs

The Tulane School of Medicine administers several scholarship programs, all of which are listed in the school's Bulletin/Catalogue. Scholarship awards are generally determined either by academic merit and/or financial need. The Admissions Committee automatically considers all accepted students for scholarships awarded on the basis of academic merit. Academic scholarships are renewable for all four years of medical school. Your completion of the FAFSA and the Financial Aid Addendum are required for the Office of Financial Aid to evaluate your eligibility for a Tulane need-based scholarship. Scholarship awards vary from $3,000 up to half the cost of tuition, with the average award being approximately $5,000 per academic year.

Service Scholarship Programs

Military Scholarships

The U. S. Army, Navy, and Air Force offer full scholarships, covering tuition and fees, and a stipend for books, supplies, and living expenses. In exchange for their financial assistance, you agree to serve the military's medical needs for a period of time following residency training.

National Health Service Corps Scholarships

This highly competitive scholarship program is available for students interested in the primary care specialties and committed to serving part or their entire career in a health professional shortage area. The NHSC program pays for tuition and fees, books, supplies and equipment for up to four years and a monthly stipend for living expenses.

Private Scholarships

Many outside scholarship awards are available from various foundations and organizations that offer financial support to medical students. Students should take an aggressive approach in attempting to secure such support on their own. An excellent search engine for possible private scholarships is on the Internet at the following URL address: http://www.finaid.org. Potential private sector assistance may also be found by contacting your local chamber of commerce, area hospitals, and medical society. Remember that often support may be available to you by virtue of your ethnicity, race, gender, religion, social organization affiliation, special talents, residency status or other criteria.

A medical education as an investment, which we hope, will provide you with a lifetime of dividends. Indeed, attending medical school is a very costly undertaking and most students graduate with substantial student loan debt (the average debt for Tulane Medical School's Class of 2002 was approximately $140,000). It is important for students to seek the advice and counsel of the Office of Financial Aid in order to keep their debt at a minimum amount and at a manageable level.