COM Scholarships & Loans

College of Medicine Merit Scholarships

Merit scholarships are offered to entering medical students based on a review of a student’s total application, including the academic record and personal qualifications. All applicants accepted by the College of Medicine are automatically considered for a merit scholarship, whether or not they submit a financial aid application.

Unless otherwise stated in the offer letter, merit scholarships are renewed annually if the recipient remains in good academic standing. Recipients of these scholarships are notified by the MD Admissions Office.

College of Medicine Need Based Scholarships

The Office of Student Financial Services awards scholarships to medical students who demonstrate high financial need.  These scholarships range from $4,000 - $6,000 per year.  Effective with 2024-25, these scholarships are made to eligible students as recurring awards to help students fund multiple years.  Parental financial information must be voluntarily provided in the application process in order for a medical student to be considered for a scholarship.  Visit our new student instructions page for complete details on the application process.  Students who receive a need-based scholarship are notified during the summer via their financial aid offer made available at UC Catalyst and must also accept a minimum of $20,000 in federal or private student loans during the same academic year.

Schiff Family Foundation Endowed Scholarship Fund in Primary Care 

The Schiff Scholarship Fund at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine is used to support students from the greater Cincinnati area* who have an interest in pursuing a career in primary care medicine (i.e. family medicine, general pediatrics, medicine-pediatrics, or family medicine-psychiatry.)

The scholarship for entering M.D. students is $25,000 in year one, and $75,000 awarded across years three and four of medical school (beginning with fall semester of third year).  In addition, recipients of the award are expected to practice post-residency in a primary care field for an amount of time equivalent to the number of years in medical school for which the student received scholarship assistance (i.e. four years for the $100,000 award).

Recipients of this scholarship are expected to fulfill the intent described above. If a recipient decides later to practice in a non-primary care specialty as described above, it is the desire of the donor that the College of Medicine and its fundraising staff make attempts to secure commitments from the recipient in an amount that is at least equal to the net amount of funding received to remit back to the Schiff Scholarship Fund.

Eligibility Requirements:

In order to apply for the Schiff Scholarship Fund, you must meet the following requirements:

• Have a demonstrated interest in Primary Care medicine
• Be a resident of the greater Cincinnati area* prior to beginning medical school
• Be accepted to Cincinnati Medicine as an incoming student or have received an invitation to interview at Cincinnati Medicine at the time of the application

*The greater Cincinnati area is defined as:
Indiana: Dearborn County, Ohio County, Union County
Kentucky: Boone County, Bracken County, Campbell County, Gallatin County, Grant County, Kenton County, Pendleton County
Ohio:  Brown County, Butler County, Clermont County, Hamilton County, Warren County

How to Apply:

To be considered for this scholarship, you must:

• Complete the online Schiff Scholarship Application
• One Letter of Recommendation is required - submitted by a recommender identified by the applicant in their online application

Priority deadline: March 17, 2023

Applications received by this date receive first consideration while applications received afterward will be reviewed as possible.

If you have any questions about the Schiff Scholarship Fund including eligibility requirements and the application process, please contact the UC College of Medicine Admissions Office:  MDadmissions@uc.edu.

University of Cincinnati Long-Term Loans

Students who demonstrate financial need can qualify for our institutional UC Long-Term Loan.  This loan is offered across multiple years in increments of $6,000 per academic year, and it does not accrue interest or require payments while recipients are in medical school.  Interest and payments may be continued to be deferred after graduation during an automatic nine month grace period and then a three year medical residency deferment.  At the conclusion of deferment, the loan goes into a standard 10 year repayment term at 7.0% interest.

Like our need-based scholarships, parental financial information must be voluntarily provided in the application process to qualify.  Visit our new student instructions page for complete details on the application process.  Recipients are notified during the summer via their financial aid offer made available at UC Catalyst and must also accept a minimum of $20,000 in federal or private student loans during the same academic year.