USA Funds Adds Three Online Courses for Medical-School Financial-Aid Administrators

USA Funds^® has added three courses to its online-training curriculum for financial-aid professionals working at medical schools that participate in the MEDLOANS program. The new online courses, the final three of seven introduced this winter for medical-school professionals, cover the following subjects:

• Understanding the SAR and the ISIR. Provides an overview of these commonly used financial-aid forms. The course identifies common types of Student Aid Reports, explains the purposes of SARs and Institutional Student Information Records, lists the most-common causes of students’ SARs’ being rejected, and describes how to correct information on a SAR.
• Calculating Financial Need. Steps you through the process of calculating a medical student’s Expected Family Contribution, describes how the EFC is used to determine financial need, and explains what comprises financial need.
• Awarding Financial Aid. Outlines the guidelines and approaches most often used when awarding federal financial aid to medical students. In addition, the course offers information and practice in awarding through student-loan programs.

In January USA Funds released the first of its online courses for financial-aid professionals at medical schools. USA Funds University’s full online-training curriculum now includes 58 courses designed for student-workers and financial-aid and education-lending professionals.

Staff members at more than 260 postsecondary institutions have taken one or more of USA Funds’ online courses, and more than 80 percent have demonstrated gains in knowledge after completing the training.