The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

The US Department of Education’s FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FAFSA) is one of the first steps in the financial aid process. You will need to file a FAFSA if you are applying for any federal financial aid or if you would like to be considered for any of the College of Medicine’s need-based scholarships. You will need to renew or re-file your FAFSA each year that you want to apply for financial aid. Please file your FAFSA by April 15 each year for the following academic year.

File the 2010-2011 FAFSA online at www.fafsa.ed.gov

PRIORITY DEADLINE for 2010-2011: APRIL 26, 2010

Enter the correct school code: E00600
The information you submit on your FAFSA will be sent to the school you select.  UAMS actually has two financial aid offices. One office serves the Pharmacy, Nursing, Graduate, Health Related  Professions, and Public Health students. Our office serves only Medical Students and is listed on the FAFSA school code list as UNIV OF AR COLG OF MEDICINE. Our school code is E00600. Listing the wrong school code could considerably delay your financial aid.

Indicate that you are a GRADUATE/PROFESSIONAL student
If you incorrectly indicate that you will be an undergraduate student, the Department of Education will classify you as a dependent student, and will take your parents’ income into account when calculating your Expected Family Contribution.

Use your Department of Education PIN to sign your FAFSA
The Department of Education requires your signature before processing your FAFSA, so if you do not use your PIN to file your FAFSA, you must print the signature page at the end of the application, sign it, and mail it to the indicated address (which will take much longer). Without your signature, your FAFSA will be incomplete and your financial aid could be delayed.

• file your 2009 federal tax return (you will not need your state tax return to file the FAFSA).
• Gather your records for income earned last year (see Step One on the FAFSA site for a list of the documents and information you will need).
• You may also want to print the pre-application worksheet from Step One on the FAFSA site to help you collect your financial information before you begin.
• Apply for a Department of Education Personal Identification Number (PIN) at www.pin.ed.gov, if you do not have one already, or if you have lost yours. You should receive your PIN electronically within 72 hours if you submit a valid email address, or within 7-10 days if it must be mailed to you.

You can use a PIN to:

• Serve as your electronic signature on your FAFSA
• File a Renewal FAFSA—access and update the information you filed last year
• Make corrections or changes to your FAFSA online.
• Access your federal student loan history on the National Student Loan Data System website (www.nslds.ed.gov)
   

All graduate students are considered INDEPENDENT on the FAFSA. Therefore, your parents’ information is NOT required by the Department of Education in order for you to receive Federal Loans. However, the FAFSA will give you the option to include your parents' financial information, and we recommend that you do include that information.  Entering your parents' information on the FAFSA will NOT affect your eligibility for Stafford or Graduate PLUS loans, for since you will be considered independent, the Department of Education will not factor any of their information in to the calculations that determine your eligibility for financial aid.   

The College of Medicine WILL REQUIRE you to include parental information if you are applying for the Primary Care Loan, or if you wish to be considered for need-based scholarships.  Some loan programs, such as the Primary Care Loan Program, are governed by different regulations than the Stafford Loan Program, and do not consider any student independent. Therefore, financial aid offices are required to use parental information in determining your eligibility for these programs.

We understand that the majority of our medical students are financially independent of their parents.  However, the reason we ask you to include your parents' information is because the Financial Aid Office uses that information in compiling statistical information to apply for additional grant aid.  Also, our Scholarship Committee recognizes that all medical students have need due to the fact that working during medical school is not feasible, so they often use economic background as a factor in awarding need-based scholarships.  To be eligible for all programs and scholarships offered, we recommend that all students enter their parents’ information if possible.
 

• apply a formula established by Congress to your information, and will calculate your EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION (EFC). Your EFC represents the amount of money you are expected to contribute toward the cost of your education for the school year (although this amount may not exactly match the amount you end up contributing because your EFC may be replaced by non-need based financial aid).
• send your Student Aid Report to you and the school you request. Your Student Aid Report will list every entry to your FAFSA and will detail your Expected Family Contribution.
• select a random sample of all FAFSA applications for verification, and require the Financial Aid Office to verify that the information reported on the FAFSA is the same as the information reported on the student's W-2 form and tax return. Some FAFSA applications are also selected because of inconsistencies of information reported on the FAFSA.

• use your EFC to determine your eligibility for financial aid.
• notify you if you are selected for verification.

• receive your Student Aid Report by email within 4-6 days of the date you submitted your FAFSA if you included a valid email address when you filed your FAFSA. If you did not include a valid email address or if your name and social security number do not match with the Social Security Administration’s records, you will be sent a paper Student Aid Report within 2 to 4 weeks.
• need to review your Student Aid Report and make sure everything is correct. You may make any corrections on the FAFSA website by using your PIN, or you may notify the Financial Aid Office to make corrections for you.
• need to make sure the correct school code is listed: UNIV OF AR COLG OF MEDICINE, code E00600. If your Student Aid Report lists Univ of AR for Medical Sciences 001109, please change the school code, or bring your Student Aid Report to the Financial Aid Office, so that we may process your financial aid.
• keep your Student Aid Report for your records.
• (only if you are selected for verification) submit to the Financial Aid Office any documentation that you used to file your FAFSA, such as your W-2 forms and federal tax return. The Financial Aid Office will notify you by letter if you are selected.  If you are selected, your verification must be completed before the Financial Aid Office can release any of your financial aid.
   

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
College of Medicine
4301 W. Markham St., Little Rock, AR 72205

Student Admissions: (501) 686.5354 / E-mail: southtomg@uams.edu
Center for Diversity Affairs: (501) 686.7299 / E-mail: cda@uams.edu
Office of Alumni Affairs: (501) 686.6684/ E-mail: Ginny Rice
Dean's Office: (501) 686.5349
 

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