Financial Aid for Professional Pharmacy Program Students

Students in the School of Pharmacy are eligible for various forms of financial aid that are available to all University of Mississippi students. School of Pharmacy students are urged to consult the UM Financial Aid website for information regarding these various sources.

In addition, the School of Pharmacy provides financial aid in the form of scholarships and loans. In addition to loans available from school resources, loans for pharmacy students are also available from the National Community Pharmacists Association (restricted to student members), the American Pharmaceutical Association, the Mississippi Pharmacists Association and the Health Professions Student Loan.

In addition to University scholarships, the School of Pharmacy has scholarships that are distributed primarily on the basis of academic performance while enrolled in the School of Pharmacy. The School of Pharmacy offers ten seven-year scholarships of $1,000 per year to selected Early Entry applicants. Continuation of these scholarships is dependent upon retaining Early Entry status. All accepted applicants are considered candidates for these awards, and recipients are selected based on admission criteria. Once these scholarships are lost due to less than adequate academic performance, they cannot be reinstated.

The school also awards $1,000 scholarships for the children of faculty, staff and preceptors of the School of Pharmacy. Continuation of these scholarships requires obtaining a GPA of 2.5 on the previous year’s required courses. If this award is canceled due to less than adequate performance, the award will be reinstated once necessary academic performance is again achieved.

The majority of school scholarship dollars are used to reward B.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Doctor of Pharmacy students for academic performance on required school courses. Eligibility for these scholarships is determined following completion of each academic year. These scholarships are basically entitlement scholarships, and one does not need to make formal application for these funds. Eligibility (EE1-EE3 and P1-PY4 students) for reward based scholarships is dependent on a minimum GPA of 3.50 on the required courses taken in the year preceding the awarding of such scholarships. For rising PY4 students, the criterion is a 3.25 GPA. Such scholarships are available to Early Entry students beginning in their second year and for Regular Entry students after completion of the P1 year. The amount of the scholarship would vary from an initial award of $1,000/semester. This amount may increase for each successive year that a student maintains a 3.50 GPA (3.25 for PY4 students) on required courses, with a maximum increase of $250 per year.

For example, in years of maximum funding, if a student maintains a 3.50 GPA for a second successive year, the award would be increased to $1,250, a third year $1,500, a fourth year $1,750, a fifth year $2,000, and a sixth year $2,250. If a student fails to maintain the required GPA for the award in a particular year, but achieves the GPA in a subsequent year, the student will receive a maximum scholarship of $1,000/year for each subsequent year that the required GPA is achieved. All scholarship amounts are contingent on the availability of funds, exhibition of professional behavior, and the achievement of appropriate level of academic performance. In the event that scholarship funds are limited, each scholarship awarded will be reduced by the same percentage.

The School will award $1,000 annually to Student Body officers (President, President Elect, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Elections Chair and Conduct Council Chair) for the year in which they serve as officer. Class presidents will receive a $500 scholarship for the year in which they serve.

Beginning with the 2020-2021 admissions cycle, applicants are no longer required to take the PCAT for admissions purposes. However, to be considered for school-specific scholarships, students will need to take it, as this is a requirement for scholarships moving forward.

All non-resident applicants with an 80^th percentile or higher composite PCAT score are eligible for one of ten non-resident tuition waivers through the UM School of Pharmacy. The tuition waiver applies to the fall and spring and required summer semesters for professional years 1 and 2, at which time all students should be eligible for Mississippi residency and receive in-state tuition.