General Information

Careful planning of how to meet the cost of a professional education is an important challenge, which should be addressed as soon as the decision to pursue a career in veterinary medicine is made. The responsibility for meeting this cost belongs primarily to students and their families. Financial aid available through the College and federal student financial aid programs should be viewed as supplemental to family resources.

Our financial aid applicants as a whole received financial assistance from the following sources:

The breakdown differs slightly from one class to another for various reasons. For example, first-year students are encouraged to concentrate on making a successful adjustment to the rigorous academic program, and are advised not to make a large commitment to employment during the academic year. Therefore, a first-year student's package may contain a slightly larger percentage of loans than that of the average second-year student, who may be better able to afford a few hours each week to substitute earnings for borrowed funds.

While loans and family contributions still represent the major sources of money for veterinary students, increasing available grant and scholarship moneys has been the College's top fund-raising priority for the past several years. All applicants for financial aid at the College of Veterinary Medicine are automatically considered for any gift aid available through the College providing they have supplied the requested information upon which such awards are based.

All financial aid awarded at the College of Veterinary Medicine is based on a careful analysis of the student's need. All students less than 30 years of age on January 1 of the year of financial aid application are considered to be dependent on their families first. The ability of the family to assist the student (rather than parental preference or intent) is the basis for determining eligibility for campus-based aid such as College grants and scholarships, and the Health Professions Student Loan (which is mandated by federal guidelines). Students in graduate and professional programs are considered independent for purposes of the Federal Direct Subsidized Stafford/Ford Loan, the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford/Ford Loan, the Federal Perkins Loan, and Federal Work-Study. Students who want aid only from those programs need not provide parental data.

The College of Veterinary Medicine makes offers of financial aid based on actual financial data. Students and families should plan to have their federal income tax returns completed and other information needed to complete the financial aid application assembled at least by late February to ensure timely processing of the information and receipt of a Financial Aid Offer. First-time applicants and their families will be asked to provide verification of federal adjusted gross income and taxes paid through the Internal Revenue Service as well as copies of the actual tax returns filed.

Offers of financial aid will be made as soon as complete and accurate information is available. Any additional information requested to clarify or verify information stated on the required Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the supplemental College Scholarship Service (CSS) forms should be provided as soon as possible to avoid delay of the Financial Aid Offer.

Financial aid resources in the College are managed to support the goal of equality of educational opportunity and are allocated on the basis of demonstrated need. No student shall be denied access to financial aid or be discriminated against otherwise because of race, color, religion, sex, national or ethnic origin, age or disability. In addition, the admissions process will in no way be influenced by the need for financial aid. All information relating to an applicant's personal or familial financial circumstances is held in strictest confidence.