Calculating Financial Aid Awards

Alpert Medical School financial aid awards fully cover your assessed financial need. Your financial need may be met with all loans or with a combination of loans and scholarships.

The determination of your need actually is a simple calculation.    We start with your cost of attendance, and then subtract your family's expected contribution. The result is your assessed need. So, the formula looks like this:

COA — Family Contribution = Assessed Need

If you applied only for external aid (e.g., Stafford loans) we calculated a contribution from you (and your spouse, if applicable) based upon your income and asset information before determining your financial need. No parental information was considered.

However, if you applied for institutional aid, a contribution from both you (and your spouse, if applicable) and your parent(s) is displayed on your award letter. The threshold to qualify for institutional aid is determined both by your COA and by the assessed family contribution figure. Regardless of whether you applied for external aid only or for institutional aid, your award notification letter displays the maximum amounts for which you are eligible in federal student loans (e.g., Unsubsidized Stafford).

OAFA uses a federally-approved system (Federal Methodology) to determine the amount that you and your family can reasonably contribute each year toward your cost of attendance. Factors that are considered in the calculation of need include: family income; assets; the number of family members; and the number who are attending college, graduate school or professional school. Federal Methodology offers allowances against assets and income, including the exclusion of home equity from your family’s asset portfolio. We also make institutional allowances against family income and assets to decrease your family’s contribution. Examples include costs that your family might pay for private secondary school tuition as well as out-of-pocket medical expenses for family members.