Program Financial Aid

Financial aid must be applied for through the University or directly from outside funding sources, rather than through the PA Program. The PA Program has no direct involvement in the granting of any financial aid, except for two scholarships listed below.

General information and application forms for financial aid and financing a USC education are available at: http://www.usc.edu/admission/graduate/fa

Financial aid applicants who meet all the deadlines will be considered for the Federal Stafford Loan, Federal Perkins Loan and Federal Graduate Plus Loan. Applicants who do not meet all the deadlines will be considered for the Federal Stafford Loan Program and Federal Graduate Plus Loan only. Additionally, there is the USC Tuition Payment Plan. United States government guidelines preclude international students from receiving federal financial assistance through the USC Financial Aid Office. However, international students are eligible and may apply for private financing programs.

USC PA students who receive the Federal Perkins Loan at USC will have that loan forgiven after beginning work as a PA. Additional information regarding financial aid scholarships and other payback agreements may be obtained from the American Academy of Physician Assistants (website: http://www.aapa.org/) through the student AAPA web page. The state of California offers a number of loan repayment programs which allow PA graduates to repay significant amounts of debt through post-graduate employment in settings serving medically underserved patient populations. Additional information regarding post-graduate employment can be obtained through: Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.

New Student Achievement Award

The New Student Achievement Award is a one-time award of $3,000, applicable toward tuition and fees, half disbursed for fall and half for spring semester. Candidates must be newly admitted students of the USC Primary Care Physician Assistant Program who demonstrate:

1. high financial need, usually defined as having a need greater than or equal to the cost of tuition as determined by FAFSA need analysis); and,
2. community awareness, typically developed through non-health care related community/volunteer service, and/or paid or volunteer health care experience serving underserved populations.

NOTE: The eventual recipient of the award understands that if he/she subsequently becomes an NHSC Scholar or receives an award or awards that eliminates his/her financial need, the New Student Achievement Award will be re-awarded to another deserving student.
No application is needed. Candidates are evaluated on the following criteria: CASPA report (already on file, including letters of recommendation and personal statement), USC PA Program supplemental application (already on file, including the personal statement), applicant interview (already conducted late Fall through early Spring), and the FAFSA Student Aid Report (SAR).

Fabrizi Scholarship

Established in 2000 by an anonymous donor to support single-parent PA students, the scholarship is named after its first recipient, Renee Fabrizi, PA Class of 2001. Recently the donor has made an additional financial gift toward the scholarship to allow PA students who may not be single parents to be considered for the scholarship and awarded funding based on their merit and financial need.

The scholarship is a one-time award of $2,000-5,000 to be applied to the recipient's financial aid package.

Scholarship for Disadvantaged Students

The Scholarship for Disadvantaged Students (SDS), offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is an award based on federal guidelines for family/income level. Academic programs must apply for consideration each year. If the USC PA Program is accepted as an applicant (as it has been in 2005 and 2007, and if federal funding is available, information concerning the application process and qualifying measures is sent to all students. The amount of the scholarship varies from year to year, from approximately $ 7,000 to $ 24,000 per student. The number of students eligible to receive the SDS each year ranges from 8-14.

Questions? Please contact the USC PA Program Admission Office at uscpa@usc.edu or (626) 457-4247.