welcome class of 2015 financial aid entrance counseling and orientation
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome Class of 2015
Financial Aid Entrance Counseling
and Orientation
Financial Aid Overview
Approximately 88% of UVA medical students receive some kind of financial aid.
To receive aid, you must apply each year. Our priority deadline for returning students is May 1st.
To apply, you must submit the FAFSA (www.fafsa.ed.gov), the UVA School of Medicine application (in SIS), and the previous year’s tax returns. Unless you have been told otherwise: For federal loans, we need only your information. For school aid, we also need your parents’ information and tax returns.
Read over all of your paperwork and disclosures – the master promissory note, award letters, any statements that you receive – and keep them in safe place.
Preliminary Award Letter
Each year, you will receive a preliminary award letter email that shows how much aid you are eligible for from all sources.
Read carefully - this letter will also have links and instructions for accepting the various types of loans.
Requesting Loans
Use the budgeting spreadsheet on our website to determine how much you need to borrow.
Request loans by July 1st to ensure that they appear on your fall tuition bill.
Aim low – if you don’t have it, you won’t spend it. If you borrowed too much, you can reduce your loans.
You can always request more loan money later if needed, up to your maximum – just contact your counselor. Make final loan requests by March 1st each year.
Requesting Loans
Loans must be accepted online through SIS.
Official Award Letter
In July, after you have accepted your loans, you will receive an official award letter showing all of your aid and an estimated summary of your student account.
At the bottom of your award letter is a brief summary of your med school borrowing and repayment information.
Tuition Bills
UVA does not mail paper tuition bills.
You will receive an email from Student Accounts every year in July and November notifying you that your bill is available online through QuikPay.
You can access QuikPay through the link in the email, or through SIS. SIS shows up-to-date info.
If you have more financial aid than the cost of tuition, you will see a negative amount due on your bill.
Tuition payments can be made online or by check. Mail checks with the printable statement.
To set up your parents to receive email notifications and pay bills online, click on “Authorize Payers.”
Getting Your MoneyAll financial aid is applied towards payment of tuition & fees in equal portions for fall and spring. If your financial aid is more than the cost of tuition & fees, then the overage is refunded to you to help with living expenses.
You will receive your refund in a lump sum at the beginning of each semester. Remember to set aside money that you will need for things like boards, travel, and health insurance.
Although you will receive equal amounts in fall and spring, your semesters may not be of equal length, so budget carefully! Your fall refund will be in late August, your spring refund will be in late January.
August – January = 5 months
January – next August = 7 months
This means you should have money left over from fall to help with spring!
Getting Your Money
ALL students should sign up for direct deposit online:
http://www.virginia.edu/studentaccounts/direct_deposit.html
If you do not sign up for direct deposit, the University will mail a check to your local mailing address. This may take up to 2 weeks longer than direct deposit. Make sure your address in SIS is correct (www.virginia.edu/sis).
Federal Loans
The University of Virginia, like all schools now, is a Direct Lending School.
You will receive your loan money directly from the government.
You will be assigned a servicer who will service your federal loans (send statements, take payments, answer questions, etc). Check your mail.
You must sign a master promissory note (MPN) and complete entrance counseling The master promissory note is your agreement to repay your
loans, even if you do not finish school or cannot find employment. You alone are responsible for these loans.
Federal Loans
If you are receiving federal loans this year, you MUST complete the Master Promissory Note and the online entrance counseling
at studentloans.gov.
If you have not done this, DO IT TODAY.
Federal Loans
The entrance counseling will give you basic information about your federal loans.
Some important highlights:
• Both subsidized and unsubsidized loans have a fixed interest rate of 6.8%. This may be reduced by .25% during repayment if you use auto-pay.
• Both sub and unsub loans have a 1% fee, .5% is rebated upfront (net .5% fees) – you must not be late on your first 12 monthly payments to keep the rebate.
• No interest accrues on subsidized loans while in school or in the grace period.
• Interest accrues on your unsubsidized loans but does not capitalize.
• Your award letter will tell you your maximums for each loan type every year. Your total cumulative sub/unsub maximum, including undergrad, is $224,000.
• Graduate PLUS loans – last resort, available if your total aid does not meet COA
• Fixed interest rate of 7.9%, accrues immediately
• 4% in fees with 1.5% rebated up front (net 2.5% fees)
• No lifetime maximum, limited only by Cost of Attendance
Federal Loans
More highlights:
• The standard repayment term is 10 years, but students with over $30,000 in debt may take up to 25 years to pay the loan back. The longer you take, the more overall interest you will pay.
• Forbearance options: Medical residents may use the residency forbearance to delay entering repayment. During forbearance, interest accrues on all loans but no payments are due. Interest will capitalize at the end of each forbearance period (12 months).
• There are no prepayment penalties. Ever.
• If you die or become permanently disabled, your loans are forgiven.
Federal Loans
Upcoming Changes:
As part of the deficit reduction negotiations, Congress made several changes to student loan programs, including:
• Eliminating the subsidized loan for graduate and professional students
• Eliminating all repayment incentives (such as the upfront fee rebate and any interest rate reduction incentives)
These changes will start next year – July 1, 2012.
From our reading of the agreement, it appears that the 0.25% interest rate reduction for automatic payments may remain intact. We are waiting for clarification from the Department of Education.
We will keep you updated via email about all changes that are implemented.
Institutional Loans
If you are eligible for a need-based School of Medicine loan, you will be notified on your preliminary award letter.
These institutional loans: Have no fees, and have no interest while you are in school or
during your 6-month grace period Have a fixed 5% interest rate thereafter Have a 10-year repayment term Forbearance allows you to pay INTEREST ONLY during
residency.
Required paperwork: you must return the self-certification form and do a promissory note online through Campus Partners each year. No online entrance counseling required.
Costs and Borrowing
2011/2012 Cost of Attendance Budgets
The maximum that you can receive in any kind of financial aid, according to federal regulations, is the official Cost of Attendance.
Only borrow what you really need. Start planning for how to keep your debt down. Take how much you’re borrowing this year and use that to project your borrowing over the next four years. Then, you can take your total debt and estimate your monthly payment at www.finaid.org.
The approximate average debt of our 2011 medical school graduates who borrowed was about $121,000 (including debt from undergrad).
Virginian Non-Virginian
Tuition & fees 41,489 51,161
Living Expenses 16,832 16,832
Books/supplies 1,039 1,039
Instruments 914 914
Health Insurance 2,326 2,326
TOTAL $58,438 $69,432
Keeping Your Debt Down
Estimated Four-Year Cost of Attendance*
Virginians $266,808
Non-Virginians $308,873
*For Class of 2015, assuming a 4% increase in the costs each year for 4 years.
A Virginian who borrowed this entire cost of attendance for four years, and did not prepay any interest, would owe $309,088 and have a standard monthly
payment of about:
$3,617A non-Virginian who borrowed this entire cost of attendance for four years, and did not prepay any interest, would owe $359,361 and have a standard monthly
payment of about:
$4,225
Keeping Your Debt Down
$472,848
$198,151
$399,506
$167,340
Total Interest
$434,148$3617$ 309,088Virginian
(Borrow $266,808, repay over 10 Years)
$781,721$2606$359,361Non-Virginian
(Borrow $308,873, repay over 25 Years)
$507,024$4225$359,361Non-Virginian
(Borrow $308,873, repay over 10 Years)
$666,314$2221$ 309,088Virginian
(Borrow $266,808, repay over 25 Years)
Total Repayment
Monthly Payment
Owed at Graduation
Although your salary as a physician will be relatively high, large student loan debt can be a burden. Even earning $200,000 a year, you may find it very difficult to make a $4000+/month student loan payment. And your student loan debt can affect your ability to get other credit!
In addition, you do not want to have to take your loan debt into account when choosing a specialty. You should choose a specialty based on your interests and your abilities, rather than the salary that you need to pay back your loans.
So: Borrow ONLY what you really NEED. The cost of attendance budget represents the maximum that you should need to get through school. You should find that with careful budgeting you are able to get by on less. Work with your parents, your family, your roommates, your spouse, and your friends to make sure that you are not going into unnecessary debt.
Live cheaply now, so that you don’t have to when you are a doctor!
Your Financial Aid Office
Dennis Snyder
(Last names A-H)
Margaret Baxton
(Last names I-R)
Nancy Zimmer
(Last names S-Z)
Tonya Shifflett
Program Support
Claude Moore Medical Education building, Room 1140
(434) 924-0033
8 AM – 5 PM, Monday – Friday
No appointment necessary – feel free to drop by and see your counselor any time.
Things our office can help with(in addition to financial aid, of course!):
• Candy
• Budgeting
• Financial emergencies
• Finding outside scholarships – check our website, www.medicine.virginia.edu /education/medical-students /financial-aid
• Debt management
• Financial Education: Money Talks
Budgeting early October
Living within the cost of attendance Basic budgeting skills
Budgeting to limit borrowing needs Helpful hints and tips
Creditmid-November
Credit scoring How to build and maintain good credit
How to prevent identity theft Checking your credit report
Home Financingmid-March
Adjustable vs. fixed rate mortgages Renting vs. Buying
How your credit affects home buying Debt ratios, escrow, closing costs
Financial Planningmid-March
Basic financial planning skills Saving for retirement while paying debt
Choosing a financial planner The effects of student loan debt
Remember: Go to studentloans.gov and complete the entrance
counseling and Master Promissory Note.
Only borrow what you really need. $200/month now could cost you $20,000 later!
We’re here to help. If you have any questions about how much to borrow, budgeting, student loans, repayment, or any other financial concern, please feel free to come in and see your counselor.
We will be at the activities fair next Friday – please feel free to stop by and meet your counselor.