Clinical Education Expenses and Financial Aid
Students may find that there are additional or unexpected expenses associated with clinical education. These expenses may include facility health requirements, criminal background checks and fingerprinting, transportation, meals, housing, and professional clinical attire.
In many cases, the standard estimated cost of attendance for the term will cover these additional expenses and students find that they do not need to request additional funding. In cases where a student’s expenses exceed the standard allowances in the cost of attendance, the student may appeal to the Office of Financial Aid for additional funding.
The Office of Financial Aid can consider an appeal for costs that exceed the standard allowance for the following expenses:
Housing
Transportation
- Costs for operating and maintaining a vehicle that is used to transport the student to and from clinical sites (not including the purchase of an automobile or auto loan or lease installment)
- Airline tickets for transportation to and from a clinical site at the beginning and end of each rotation
Supplies
- Specific uniform requirements (scrubs, clinic-specific clothing)
Miscellaneous Personal Expenses
- Background checks
- Fingerprinting
- Additional health requirements and immunizations
- Drug screens
Other
Typically, students participating in clinicals who have appealed for additional expenses need assistance with additional costs associated with housing at the clinical location and/or transportation to/from the clinical location.The appeal process for these items requires you to submit a letter of appeal (this can be an email request asking for additional funding to cover these expenses) along with documentation of those expenses. The drop downs above provide examples of the documentation that should be provided for housing and transportation:
If you find that your current loan funding will not cover other expenses (such as supplies or other
miscellaneous expenses), please contact the Chicago Financial Aid Office and we’re happy to work with you do determine the documentation that should be submitted for those items.
Once you submit your appeal request, it will be reviewed by the Financial Aid Office and you will be contacted with the results of the appeal. We may request additional documentation or ask for clarification prior to deciding the outcome of the appeal. Additional loan funding will be offered for the appeals that are approved.
We encourage students to apply for additional funding prior to the start of the clinical, but if you find that your expenses exceed your financial aid during your clinical, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We can still process an appeal request during the term of the clinical, but may not be able to process an appeal for expenses associated with a clinical in a prior term.