The cost of attending medical school is a significant and long term financial commitment.  Students should preplan and carefully consider all anticipated expenses.  

The financial aid officers at the University of Medicine and Health Sciences (UMHS) are available to help applicants and accepted students who have financial aid questions. 

Financial Aid

Accepted students will automatically receive the applicable financial aid information and instructions approximately 90 days prior to their anticipated start date. 

Financial aid information is sent to the student's email address that is on record with the UMHS Office of Admissions.  To receive this information in a timely manner, accepted students should be sure the UMHS Office of Admissions has your current email address.  Students are also urged to review messages that may have inadvertently ended up in bulk/spam/junk folders since some email providers may filter messages into these categories.

The term Financial Aid, as an industry standard, includes a variety of funding sources such as student loans (guaranteed government sponsored loans, alternative private educational loans from third party banks, institutional loans), scholarships and grants, as well as work study.

Planning Guides

The Department of Financial Aid created several documents to assist students in determining their financial needs:

UMHS Cost of Attendance and Planning Guide (May '10)

UMHS Financial Aid Checklist

UMHS Financial Aid Frequently Asked Questions

Information Privacy 

UMHS, in accordance with the Family Educational Rights of Privacy Act (FERPA) does not disclose personally identifiable information from any educational records unless the student has consented.  To consent, a student must complete the UMHS Consent Form and return it to the Financial Aid Department.

Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

To remain eligible for financial aid (loans, grants, scholarships) students must maintain satisfactory academic progress (SAP). SAP will be reviewed by the Financial Aid office after each semester. SAP guidelines are outlined by the Registrar and are available in the UMHS Student Handbook.

Should a student fail to meet the guidelines upon completion of any given semester, the following semester’s financial aid will be disbursed on a probationary status. If a student fails to meet SAP requirements for a second consecutive semester, financial aid eligibility will be suspended until the student can regain good academic standing.

Although a student may not be eligible to receive financial aid, this does NOT mean they will not be permitted to attend.  Students on financial aid suspension may continue to attend UMHS so long as they are permitted by the Registrar and an alternative source of financing has been secured. 

Student Loans

Loans are monies that must be repaid.  Typically, repayment begins after students have completed their education.  These loans have varying interest rates and terms of length that can affect the total amount borrowers will pay over the life of the loan.  It is important that a student considering accepting an approved loan real all of the terms and conditions prior to the disbursement of any funds.

Requests for Student Loans

Students, who will be applying for financial aid, should notify the UMHS Office of Financial Aid by completing and returning the financial aid request form.  

Student Request Form: Students Who Begin Semester 1 in May 2010

Student Request Form: Students Who Begin Semester 2 in May 2010

Student Request Form: Students who begin Semester 3 in May 2010

Student Request Form: Students who begin Semester 4 in May 2010

Student Request Form: Students who begin Semester 5 in May 2010

CitiAssist® Health Professions Student Loan

To assist students, UMHS has made arrangements with Citibank to provide private educational loans. These are privately insured credit-based loan options that can cover the total cost of attendance.  These loans are not subsidized by the federal government, nor are they guaranteed. 
 
Eligibility for the Citibank CitiAssist® loan requires a good credit history, as well as U.S. citizenship or permanent residency status.  The bank’s approval or denial decision will be based on the student’s or cosigner’s credit rating. This may also include review of the applicant’s debt to income ratio.

The following information will assist students in applying for a CitiAssist Undergraduate Student Loan.

Citibank Student Loan Site

How to Apply for a Citibank CitiAssist® Student Loan

Citibank CitiAssist® Student Loan Terms

Institutional Loan Program

The UMHS Institutional Loan Program has a $3,000.00 per semester maximum for semesters 1-4 and $2,000.00 per semester maximum for semesters 5-10.  Requests for increased amounts will be considered on a case by case basis so long as a letter of explanation is submitted with your application. 

Student loans cannot be approved or certified to be disbursed for an amount in excess of your annual cost of attendance. The Office of Financial Aid will only certify a maximum amount equal to that of your total cost. Consumer or other personal debt (credit cards, mortgages, car payments, legal fees, etc.) cannot be included in the cost of attendance.   

Institutional Loan Application

Students must complete the UMHS Institutional Loan Application in order to be considered for this program.

Federal Student Aid 

Because UMHS is a new school, its students are not yet eligible to receive aid from any of the federal student aid programs available through FAFSA. 

Due to the fact that UMHS is not yet recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, existing student loans will not be eligible for the automatic in-school deferment students may be used to.

Students matriculating at UMHS with existing student loans, from previous school attended, will need to contact their loan servicers to request forbearance on those loans if the student will not be able to make the required monthly payments.

Required Financial Planning Counseling

Due to the costly nature of a medical education, the Department of Financial Aid requires all accepted students to call for financial planning and debt management counseling. If you have outstanding student loans from attending a prior institution, this counseling would also include aggregate loan calculations which could be the most important factor when making your financial plan to attend UMHS. 

Canadian Student Loan Program

Listed below are several loan opportunities for Canadian students who are accepted to study medicine at the University of Medicine and Health Sciences (UMHS). 

Canadian students may apply for loans through their provincial Ministry of Training.  The Canadian government provides loan information and access to the National Student Loan Centre through their Can Learn website.  

Canadian Credit-Based Loans

UMHS has coordinated credit-based loans with both the Royal Bank of Canada and the National Bank of Canada.  Both institutions are accepting line of credit applications from Canadian students accepted to UMHS.

Each program offers specific terms and conditions as well as pre-set limits.  The lines of credit are credit based, and a co-signer may be necessary.

To apply for a credit based loan from Royal Bank of Canada or the National Bank of Canada, Canadian students accepted at UMHS may go to any bank branch office with their acceptance letter.

Royal Bank of Canada Branch Locator

National Bank of Canada Branch Locator

Scholarships

The University of Medicine and Health Sciences (UMHS) awards scholarships to well deserving accepted students.  All accepted students are automatically considered for institutional scholarship funds.

In addition UMHS offers a limited number of merit-based institutional scholarships.  All accepted students will be considered for these scholarships. Awards are determined by the student’s academic history contained in their admissions application.

Each student's application for admission to UMHS serves as the application for institutional scholarship awards.

UMHS also offers special scholarships to citizens of St. Kitts-Nevis.

Office of Financial Aid

University of Medicine and Health Sciences
460 West 34th Street, 12 Floor
New York, NY 10001

Tel: 212-868-0855 or 866-686-0380
Fax: 212-868-47222
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