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Financial Aid Office |
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[Financial Aid Home] [Program Overview] [Forms and Calendar] [FAQs] [Publications] [Links] |
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Loan Counseling Services Medical students often need to take on a significant amount of educational loan debt to finance their medical education. Harvard Medical School has a vigorous loan counseling program and is concerned about the high level of borrowing. The Financial Aid Office offers each student an opportunity to discuss the terms of the loans and to be counseled on debt management strategies. The following is an outline of the loan counseling services offered at HMS. Mandatory loan counseling meetings are held during the beginning of the fall semester. At these meetings, Financial Aid Officers will discuss the terms and repayment schedules of the student loan programs and the rights and responsibilities of the borrower. After attending this meeting, students meet individually with their Financial Aid Officers to review individual projections of their educational debt at graduation and to discuss their questions and concerns. Second-year loan counseling group meetings are held at the beginning of the second semester. The group meetings are scheduled during the lunch hour and last approximately 60 minutes. In addition to reviewing the student’s debt-to-date, Financial Aid Offices update students about issues which affect their educational debt. Budgetary management tips are discussed and there are demonstrations of financial planning web resources. The Financial Aid Office generates loan summary reports for third-year students and mails them to student local addresses. Exit Interviews: Mandatory exit interviews are held during the months of April and May prior to June graduation. The purpose of the interview is to disclose the loan repayment schedule, discuss budgeting strategies and loan terms, answer questions and concerns of the student, etc. All graduating students who utilized any type of loan must attend an interview. Students taking a leave of absence from HMS lasting longer than six months are also required to have an exit interview as their loans will enter repayment during this time. Financial Management Seminar: An annual Senior Financial Management Seminar presentation is offered during the spring prior to graduation. The seminar features financial services professionals who are able to assist individuals in handling their finances and making investment choices for the future. The entire student body is invited, and the content is geared towards the new medical school graduate. Students may make an appointment with their Financial Aid Officer at any time to discuss financial aid issues. The Office has a small library of resource directories to help students in their search for external sources of aid. The Financial Aid Information Page This is a free and comprehensive web site including a guide to student financial aid resources. It includes an overview of financial aid policies and procedures, a glossary of terminology, search engines for outside scholarships, calculators to compute required loan payments, an annotated bibliographies of financial aid resource materials, and direct links to over 1,000 external financial aid sites. The URL address for this site is <www.finaid.org>. This site, sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges contains a wealth of information targeted to medical students. The financial aid section of this site is especially well done. Direct your web browser to<www.tomorrowsdoctors.org> for more details. |
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[Financial Aid Home] [Program Overview] [Forms and Calendar] [FAQs] [Publications] [Links] |