Scholarships, Fellowships, and Special Funds

UT Southwestern students benefit from both a robust endowment and an active scholarship program maintained by the Southwestern Medical Foundation.

UT Southwestern awards scholarships and fellowships to students based upon a broad range of criteria that include financial need, academic performance, current and prior research, career interests, community service, and significant contributions to social and academic concerns.

The Medical Center will honor other expressed wishes of donors (as allowed by law) in awarding scholarships, including such considerations as career interests, residency status, high school attended, undergraduate institution, and year in school. Scholarships may be awarded on the basis of financial need or academic performance. There are instances when a combination of financial need and academic performance is used to select the recipient.

Scholarships awarded on the basis of financial need rely on the methodology developed by the U.S. Department of Education. This is the same methodology used to determine eligibility for other financial aid. Scholarships awarded on the basis of academic performance rely on the assessment of a student’s record in comparison to peers. Factors considered in the awarding of various competitive scholarships and fellowships include:

  1. Academic performance as reflected in the grade-point average;
  2. Performance on standardized tests (MCAT or GRE);
  3. Recommendations from professors or mentors;
  4. Scientific research activities;
  5. Involvement in community and extracurricular activities; and
  6. Demonstrated leadership and personal integrity.

Scholarship Committees for the various academic programs are charged with selecting recipients for many awards, and the Office of Student Financial Aid determines the particular fund from which each student will be funded.

The Office of Student Financial Aid also administers a limited grant fund for students with emergency financial situations that could hinder their ability to persist in educational programs. The application can be obtained from the Emergency Resources website.