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TYPES OF FINANCIAL AID AT AUB AUB’s financial aid program was developed and has grown to its present level of around $14 million in awards annually through the generous support of AUB’s alumni and friends. In 2007-08 the University awarded over $10 million in need-based grants and merit scholarships for undergraduates and an additional $4 million in funds for graduate assistantships and student employment. Click here to see the amounts granted in financial aid awards over the last five years. The vast majority of financial aid given by AUB is in the form of need-based grants. AUB awards financial aid grants to undergraduate students based upon the financial need of a family. Additional need-based aid is provided to students enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, and the schools of Nursing and Business in the form of student loans. In addition to need-based financial aid, AUB also offers special scholarships based on academic talent. These include full-tuition AUB merit scholarships and partial, small merit awards that supplement need-based grants. AUB also offers graduate assistantships and a work-study program.
NEED-BASED FINANCIAL AID GRANTS Need-based financial aid grants are outright grants of assistance for undergraduate students based on demonstrated need. The purpose of the grant program is to help qualified full-time undergraduates who could not otherwise pursue an AUB education. Application forms are available at the Office of Financial Aid. Grants are awarded on the basis of demonstrated financial need. Additional partial, small merit awards are made to needy students with records of high scholastic achievement. In 2007-08, the University was able to award grants to 82% of the enrolled students who applied for need-based financial aid; the average grant award to an undergraduate student was $3,523 per year. As part of the need-based financial aid program AUB started a loan program in September 2003 for medical students enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine. For three consecutive years, each year the program was extended to another faculty or school. Currently, the following students receiving financial aid benefit from this program: - medical students, years 1 to 4. - undergraduate students in the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, second year and on. - Nursing students enrolled in their second and third year. - students of the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business enrolled in their second and third years. T he purpose of the loan program is to allow further financial support to students who find it difficult to complete their studies. The students would apply for financial aid as usual; however, if eligible, the students receive financial assistance as a package in the form of a grant from AUB and a loan from a bank assigned by AUB. Students cannot apply for the loan separately, it is a necessary condition for the student to receive a need-based grant in order to be considered for the loan. Participating students can take the loan during each year of study. The loan is subsidized by AUB during the student's years of study until graduation. Accordingly, AUB pays the loan's interest, relieving the student from this financial burden until graduation, after which the student starts repaying the loan at a low interest rate over a period of four to six years depending on the course of study. The University is continuously studying the possibility of extending the loan program to other faculties/schools. In 1999 the Board of Trustees of AUB established a Merit Scholarship Program. This Program enables the University to award, each year, full-tuition merit scholarships to ten new undergraduates with outstanding academic qualifications. AUB Merit Scholarship awardees are selected from among the newly admitted undergraduate students on the basis of academic achievement and promise alone; no application for financial aid is required. Awards are renewable for each undergraduate year provided that the student maintains a minimum cumulative 85% average. Fellowships covering tuition and partial living expenses are available for students at the graduate level in return for a specified number of hours each week of work for an academic department. Assistantships are made on the dual basis of academic record and departmental needs. Application forms for new students are within the admissions application package. Continuing students may obtain application forms from the Office of the Dean of the faculty in which they are enrolled. Applications should be submitted early in the semester preceding the semester for which one is applying. As part of its financial aid program, the University provides full-time undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to participate in the Work Study Program. Students contribute toward their educational expenses while developing job skills in various campus offices and the Medical Center. Application forms are available at the Office for Students Affairs and should be made early in the semester. Placement is made on the basis of capability, need and job availability. Students may work a maximum of twenty hours per week; the hourly rate is based on the type of work performed. |
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