The amount of Stafford loan money that you can borrow is determined by the annual limits of the Stafford loan program (listed below) and the cost of attending OU-COM for the upcoming year (see link to student budget info).  As you are considering how much Stafford loan money to request for the upcoming year, keep in mind that you want to borrow as little as possible for you to meet your needs.  It is always a good idea to underestimate how much you need because you can always increase the amount of your loans during the academic year if you underestimated your needs and require more funds. 

At OU-COM, Financial Aid packages are first made up of loans.  Later in the year, we award scholarships so you should request your loan money first.  Then, if you are awarded a scholarship, we can adjust your loan funds.  Depending on factors beyond our control, over the years, scholarships have been awarded as late as November, so you should make your loan request without factoring in any anticipated scholarship dollars.

Annual Limits for Stafford Loan Program (combined subsidized and unsubsidized)

Year 1 = $42,722            

Year 2 = $40,500             

Year 3 = $47,167           

Year 4 = $47,167

Since the annual amount of Stafford loans is not as high as my annual student, what do I do if I’ve requested the maximum amount of Stafford loan money but still need more?

We recommend you to research outside agencies for scholarships and to apply for our institutional scholarships (if the deadline for application has not passed). If scholarship dollars are not available, you may want to consider the Graduate PLUS loan.  We generally do not process Graduate PLUS loans until the first week or so of classes because it often takes this long for us to have final cost of attendance.