MS4 Graduating Students
Important Dates
Determine the last quarter you will be enrolled at least half-time (6 or more credits) and mark the corresponding dates for that quarter on your calendar. Remember, you cannot receive financial aid when you are enrolled in 5 or fewer credits.
| Fall Quarter | Winter Quarter | Spring Quarter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last day to request additional Graduate Plus loans: | 12/11/2023 | 3/11/2024 | 5/28/2024 |
| Last day to request additional Unsubsidized Stafford loans: | 12/11/2023 | 3/11/2024 | 5/28/2024 |
| Last day of quarter: | 12/15/2023 | 3/15/2024 | 6/7/2024 |
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have undergraduate loans and/or have already used up your grace period, you will need to contact your servicer to decide to start or delay repayment or forbearance. Federal servicers may allow you to delay repayment until your medical school loans come due.
To-Do List Before Graduation
| Item | Description | Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| Check your credit score | If there are unexpected or incorrect items, resolve ASAP. | ASAP |
| Attend the first AAMC Loan Repayment Webinar with Johnathan Chancellor from the AAMC | Watch here | March 28th, 2024 6pm PT |
| Update MedLoans Organizer & Calculator | Before SOM exit interview | |
| Submit Revision Requests (Winter quarter deadline) | For students whose last quarter enrolled with 6+ credits is Winter Quarter | 3/4/2024 |
| Complete SOM exit interview | See below for more information and copy of worksheet to complete prior to interview, under "Appointment Overview" | Starting mid March 2024 |
| Submit Revision Requests (Spring Quarter deadline) | For students whose last quarter enrolled with 6+ credits is Spring Quarter | 5/24/2024 |
| Download copies of your federal loan promissory notes (Title IV) | Download at studentaid.gov | 6/1/2024 |
| Download copies of your promissory notes for UW Perkins or UW LDS loans | Download here | 6/1/2024 |
| Update contact information with loan servicer | Loan servicer information available at Federal Student Aid | 7/1/2024 |
Understanding MS4 Financial Aid
Credit Eligibility Breakdown
- 10+ Credits: Full loan and grant (if an eligible WA state resident) for tuition and living expenses in that quarter. This is considered full-time.
- 9 credits: Check with Financial Office for eligibility.
- 6-8 Credits: Loans (no grant) for tuition and 1/2 living expenses in that quarter.
- 0-5 Credits: Students with only 5 credits or less are not eligible for financial aid that quarter and expenses incurred during that quarter may not be eligible for revision request coverage. If this applies to you and you have questions, email somfao@uw.edu.
Note: Credits must relate specifically to coursework that applies to your MD graduation requirements.
Living/Transportation/Personal Expenses
| Quarter | Clerkship Credit Load | Financial aid received for living expenses | Financial aid received for transportation | Financial aid received for personal expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | 5 or fewer credits | No financial aid eligibility | No financial aid eligibility | No financial aid eligibility |
| 6-8 credits | $3,708 | $379 | $418 | |
| 10+ credits | $7,417 | $757 | $836 | |
| Winter | 5 or fewer credits | No financial aid eligibility | No financial aid eligibility | No financial aid eligibility |
| 6-8 credits | $3,708 | $379 | $418 | |
| 10+ credits | $7,417 | $757 | $836 | |
| Spring | 5 or fewer credits | No financial aid eligibility | No financial aid eligibility | No financial aid eligibility |
| 6-8 credits | $3,708 | $379 | $418 | |
| 10+ credits | $7,417 | $757 | $836 |
Tuition
You can view the current year’s tuition rates on the Graduate Tuition Dashboard.
- Campus: Seattle Campus (for all MD students)
- Student Level: Professional
- Graduate Program: Medicine (MD) – All Years
If you prefer to view tuition rates on a PDF, you can see them broken down annually and quarterly.
Graduating Student Support
SOM Financial Aid is here to support you as you choose the repayment plan that best fits your financial goals. Leading up to graduation, we offer several opportunities to connect with our office for personalized advice.
AAMC Loan Repayment Webinar
Hosted by Jonathan Chancellor, Senior Education Debt Management Specialist for the AAMC. He discuss loan repayment options, PSLF, and much more.
March 28th, 2024 at 6pm PT. Watch here!
SOM Exit Interview
The U.S. Department of Education requires all students to complete federal Exit Counseling when they leave school or drop below half-time enrollment. This is distinct and separate from SOM individual exit interviews and one-on-one advising appointments. The U.S. Department of Education will contact you directly using the information listed on your studentaid.gov account.
SOM Financial Aid counselors are available to provide 20-minute exit interviews with graduating students. We strongly encourage all students with more than $150,000 of debt to meet with a counselor. All appointments are via Zoom and you must be able to share your screen during the exit interview. Students participating in the Couples Match should plan to attend their exit interview together.
Appointment Overview:
- 5 minutes: Questions and clarification on AAMC Loan Repayment Webinar content
- 10 minutes: Review your SOM exit interview worksheet (included in email confirmation when you book your appointment) and your MedLoans Calculator data
- 5 minutes: Wrap up and finalize your repayment plan or highlight further research (as needed)
Instructions Prior to SOM exit interview:
- Gather login information and set-up three accounts (30 min):
- studentaid.gov
- Loan servicer website
- AAMC Medloans Organizer and Calculator
- Review Education Debt Management for Graduating Students booklet (free download) (15-30 min)
- Upload loan data to Medloans Organizer and Calculator (15-30 min)
- Attend or watch a recording of AAMC Loan Repayment Webinar (1.5 hours)
- Complete page 1 of SOM exit interview worksheet (5 min)
- This page is included in your confirmation email when you book your Exit Interview appointment.
- You must bring this worksheet to your exit interview. If you are not prepared, you will need to reschedule.
Managing Debt After Graduation
Repayment
As your medical school graduation approaches, it is important to maintain contact with your loan servicers. Federal student loan balances and lender information is available at Federal Student Aid.
UW’s loan servicer is Heartland ECSI (formerly Campus Partners). They provide billing, accounting, and data processing services for Federal Perkins and institutional loans.
Oftentimes, students need to take out multiple loans to finance their undergraduate and medical education. Upon graduation, you’ll have the option to consolidate certain federal student loans into one new loan with a single monthly payment. This is not often necessary for medical students, though can be situationally useful when considering Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and/or your loans have multiple servicers and you wish to make only one monthly payment.
These are the loan types currently eligible for consolidation:
- Federal Perkins/NDSL
- HPSL
- HEAL
- LDS
- Federal Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Stafford
- Federal Direct Graduate Plus
- FFEL Subsidized/Unsubsidized
- FFEL Parent/Graduate PLUS
- SLS/ALAS
If you choose to consolidate your loans, the interest will be the weighted average on your existing loans rounded up to the next one-eighth of one percent. Your repayment period will depend on the size of your consolidated loan and may be up to 30 years.
Consolidation may be a good option for some students as it can decrease the amount of your monthly repayments. However, it will increase the total amount of interest you pay overall. For more detailed information about consolidating your specific loans, please contact your lender.
Private loans are available to help cover residency relocation costs. These loans are not certified by the school, except to verify that you are graduating, and the loan funds are sent directly to you. If you apply for one of these loans make sure you select the Residency loan and not an Alternative loan. We cannot add residency relocation costs you incur after graduation to your financial aid award.
AAMC Resources on Private Loans:
- Federal vs. Private Education Loans
- Residency and Relocation Loans – To Borrow or Not to Borrow
- When Private Loans Are a Good Idea
Below is a partial list of lenders that offer private loans to cover residency relocation costs:
- PNC: up to $15,000
- Sallie Mae: up to $30,000
There are seven loan repayment options available for medical students. There is no one “best” plan and careful consideration should be placed in choosing a repayment plan that works best for your lifestyle and financial goals. The most commonly selected repayment options for medical students are PAYE, REPAYE, IBR, or forbearance.
The AAMC has created excellent resources to help you understand your loan repayment options. Please visit this webpage for more information about Traditional Repayment Plans and Income-Driven Repayment plans.
Traditional Repayment Plans (not often selected by MD graduates):
- Standard Repayment
- Extended Repayment
- Graduated Repayment
Income-Driven Repayment Plans:
- Pay As You Earn Repayment (PAYE)
- Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment (REPAYE)
- Income-Based Repayment (IBR)
- Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) (not often selected by MD graduates)
Additional AAMC Resources:
- Grace, Deferment, and Forbearance
- Repayment Plans Comparison Chart
- Videos:
- Student Loans and Repayment Strategies
- Repayment Strategies: How to Manage Student Loans After Medical School
- When Postponing Payments Is – and is NOT – a Good Idea
- The Best Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Plan During Residency (PAYE or REPAYE)
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
- The Current State of Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
- How Long Will It Take to Pay Your Student Loans
- Loan Repayment and Financial Testimonies of Medical Residents
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) was established in 2007 to forgive federal student loans for borrowers who work for certain, public service employers. The information below is from the Department of Education. For more information about the program as well as qualifying payments, repayment plans, and employers, please visit the PSLF website.
“The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer.
To qualify for PSLF, you must
- be employed by a U.S. federal, state, local, or tribal government or not-for-profit organization;
- work full-time for that agency or organization;
- have Direct Loans (or consolidate other federal student loans into a Direct Loan);
- repay your loans under an income-driven repayment plan; and
- make 120 qualifying payments.”
The AAMC’s Repayment and Loan Forgiveness/Scholarship (RAFLS) website includes a searchable database with many state and federal programs available to medical professionals. This resource is non-exhaustive but a good place to start researching available loan forgiveness programs.
Additional Resources
Below we’ve included the most used and helpful resources for medical students. Please contact our office anytime you have questions or concerns about your finances. We are here to help!
AAMC FIRST (Financial Information Resources, Services, Tools) should be your most used resource throughout medical school. The AAMC FIRST website offers a full range of resources for applicants, current medical school students and residents. Their goal is to help medical school borrowers expand their financial literacy, make smart decisions about student loans, and manage their student debt wisely. They also have a library of video resources and offer monthly webinars.
The Med Loans Organizer & Calculator (MLOC) “was developed to assist medical students and residents with managing their education debt. The MLOC provides a secure location to organize and track student loans while also displaying possible repayment plans and costs based on the borrower’s student loan debt.”
As a fourth-year student, you’ll review your MLOC during your One-on-One SOMFAO Exit Interview with a Finacial Aid counselor. Our office strongly recommends students update MLOC at least once a year starting in your second year.
Federal Student Aid is the Department of Education’s central database for student aid. The loan management system receives data from schools, guaranty agencies, the Direct Loan program, and other Department of Education programs. It provides a centralized, integrated view of Title IV loans and federal grants so that recipients can access and inquire about their loan and/or grant data.