Why is parental information necessary for GW based aid (institutional) funds?
Generally ALL medical students’ financial circumstances look identical. Due to the severely limited amount of institutional funding, we must look for a reasonably fair way to divide our limited $’s. By reviewing the parental information, it generally provides us an idea of the “family’s” overall financial strength. This allows us to make a determination of eligibility based upon an identifiable and reasonably consistent manner. Granted, this isn’t always fair but it is a quantifiable means of dividing our funds. (You should also note that over 70% of all medical schools across the country require the use of parental information in determination of institutional funding.) Since Congress established the formula and methodology under the Higher Education Act (the FAFSA process) to award out federal scholarship and loan assistance to the most “needy undergraduate students,” we have elected to use much of the same eligibility formula for the awarding of our funds. We, like many other medica
