USF College of Medicine Financial Aid Policy

1. The financial aid policy is formulated by the College of Medicine Student Affairs Committee. The Associate Dean for Student Affairs is responsible for allocating funds in compliance with the policy.
2. The goal of the Medical School Student Affairs Committee is to prevent attrition from school solely for financial reasons.
3. The primary responsibility for meeting educational costs rests with the student and/or the student's family. The College of Medicine aid sources and other sources are viewed as secondary.
4. Federal funds are awarded by following the federally established procedures for each individual fund. Students who meet the federal criteria of an independent student are evaluated as such for the federal programs that do not require parental financial data.
5. The final responsibility for the distribution of College of Medicine financial aid rests with the Medical School, following analysis of each student's total economic circumstance (student/spouse/family) by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) needs analysis process.
6. Financial aid is awarded to help meet direct educational expenses and, when possible, a portion of maintenance costs.
7. The total amount of aid awarded from the College of Medicine cannot exceed the calculated "Funding Level" for each student. "Funding Level" is defined as the cost of education minus the student's available resources (student and spouse) as determined by the FAFSA needs analysis system and has been established for the purpose of ranking students by financial need.
8. The total amount of financial aid that a student may receive cannot exceed the total cost of education
9. A new FAFSA must be submitted each academic year.
10. Exceptional financial need is defined as a student contribution of one fourth or less of the total budget.
11. Students who withdraw, transfer, take a leave of absence exceeding 120 days or who are dismissed from the College of Medicine must attend a financial aid counseling session at the time of such an action. Pro rated refunds are calculated by weeks of enrollment within a given academic year. If a refund is due a student and the student received Title IV funds, the refund will be paid directly to the Title IV financial aid program(s) from which the student received assistance. Payment will be made in the following order:     
    1. Federal Direct Grad PLUS Loan
    2. Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loan
    3. Subsidized Federal Direct Loan
    4. Other Federal, State, private or institutional sources
    5. The student
12. A student may appeal a decision of the Financial Aid Office to Student Affairs Committee.
13. In the event that an appeal of a financial aid decision cannot be resolved between the student and the Student Affairs Committee, the student may appeal directly to the Dean of the College of Medicine.