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Family Resources
Potential resources available to help meet educational costs always include, but are not limited to, the calculated contribution from the student's income and personal assets, contribution from parents, and if married, contribution from spouse's income and assets. These family resources are grouped together to form the "family contribution."
Student Contribution
The School expects the student to contribute to his or her educational and living expenses. For 2003-2004, the School will assess a minimum student contribution from earnings of $1,500 for entering and rising second-year students. The contribution from earnings for rising third-, fourth-, and fifth-year students is generally waived because the demands of the HMS curriculum prohibit employment.
Students participating in the Summer Federal Work-Study Program should note that a portion of the work-study award (after adjusting for taxes and living expenses) is required to be used to fund a portion of the calculated student contribution. This portion will be determined at the end of the summer once final summer earnings are known. Federal regulations prohibit students from borrowing additional student loans to fund the Summer Work-Study component of the calculated student contribution.
If the student/spouse has accumulated assets, s/he is expected to contribute a portion of these assets towards educational expenses. The need analysis formula assesses 25-35% of the total net value of student/spouse assets as part of the calculated student contribution each year.
Parent Contribution
Option I Applicants (i.e. applicants for need-based HMS scholarships and low-interest loans) must provide parental financial information. This policy applies regardless of age, dependency, marital status, tax status or prior history of self-support.
The amount of the parent contribution is re-calculated each year and can be significantly affected by several variables. The most notable of these is the number of siblings enrolled simultaneously at a post-secondary institution at least half-time. Since the need analysis formula assumes that parental resources are evenly divided among all of these siblings, students who foresee a change in this number should be prepared for a substantial change in the expected parent contribution. This will result in a corresponding change in the amount of financial aid awarded and one's eligibility for scholarship assistance.
Self-Supporting Status
As noted above, when considering eligibility for institutional need-based scholarships and low-interest loans, Harvard Medical School requires parental information. It is important to note that failure to provide parental information means that the student is forfeiting his/her candidacy for these Harvard Medical School and US Health and Human Services scholarships and low-interest loan programs.
If a student feels that his/her particular circumstances warrant a reconsideration of the required level of parent contribution, s/he may submit a petition to the Financial Aid Committee through the financial aid appeal process, as described later in this guidebook. Please note that waivers of the requirement for parent information are very rare.
Because the eligibility criteria for many federal financial aid programs do not take parent information into account for graduate and professional students, students can be considered for the Federal Perkins Loan, the Federal Stafford Loan (subsidized and unsubsidized), the Federal Work-Study Program, and the Harvard-Citibank HELP Loan without submitting parent information. For federal programs with limited funding allocations such as the Federal Perkins Loan and the Federal Work-Study Program, it is important to realize that being considered for the program does not guarantee receipt of funds.
Non-Custodial Parents
In order to be considered for Harvard scholarships and loans, the student’s custodial parent must complete the parent sections of the CSS Profile form and the non-custodial parent must file a CSS Divorced/Separated Parent’s Statement (available from the HMS Financial Aid Office upon request). Each biological parent must also submit tax returns to the Financial Aid Office.
In cases where the whereabouts of a parent is unknown, the Financial Aid Committee may waive the requirement for that parent’s financial disclosure, provided that the family's situation is well documented. Such documentation must include a letter from a third-party professional (e.g., attorney, clergy, social worker, or family physician) who has personal first-hand knowledge of the family's situation and history.
In the event that a biological parent is deceased or his/her whereabouts unknown, the surviving parent's spouse, if any, is required to provide financial data as the second parent. If the surviving parent is not remarried, then only one parent' financial information will be considered.
Replacing a Missing Parent Contribution
Students who anticipate that their parents will not provide the full expected parent contribution must plan in advance how they will finance Harvard Medical School without this assistance. Harvard Medical School policy does not provide for replacing a missing calculated parental contribution with institutional aid; exceptions to this policy are considered by the Financial Aid Committee through the appeal process (discussed later in this guidebook) and are very rare.
Students can request to replace a missing family contribution with additional unsubidized student loans (Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loan and/or Harvard-Citibank HELP Loan). In addition, students also have the option of using outside scholarships or Federal Work-Study earnings to meet this gap.
Spousal Contribution
The spouse of a married student is expected to contribute to the support of the student as well as to contribute to his/her own support and that of any children. The need analysis formula used for calculating the student/spouse contribution makes allowances for household expenses when determining the portion of the couple's resources available for educational expenses.
If the available resources are insufficient to support the spouse and children, it may be possible to use unsubsidized student loan programs, Federal Work-Study earnings, and/or outside scholarship to help meet family expenses. Students in this situation should speak with a Financial Aid Officer for more information. Please note that Harvard Medical School scholarship and loans are not available to meet costs attributable to persons other than the student.
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