About the
Waivers and Instructions for Submission
AACOM encourages financially disadvantaged applicants to
become DOs!
Fee waiver requests must be received and processed prior to
submitting an AACOMAS application. Processing for fee waivers takes
approximately 2-4 weeks from the date of receipt so applicants
should take this into consideration when planning submission of an
AACOMAS application.
To speed processing of your application for a fee waiver, please
begin your AACOMAS application when you submit your request for a
fee waiver. Do not complete and submit your AACOMAS
application until you have heard from AACOMAS about whether your fee
waiver has been approved. Your fee waiver will be applied to
your application electronically.
To be considered for an AACOMAS fee waiver, you must submit a
copy of the Student Aid Report (SAR) for the current year you
received back from the Department of Education if you filed the
FAFSA form. If you do not have a SAR for the current year you can
submit a copy of your most recent tax return along with the tax
returns of those that claim you as a dependent.
As a rough guide, you may wish to apply for a fee waiver if your
annual income level is within the U.S. Bureau of Census' low-income
threshold for your family's size. The number of fee waivers is
limited, however, and financial need does not guarantee a fee
waiver. Equally, not everyone who submits a fee waiver application
will qualify financially for one.
If you receive a fee waiver, you may apply it to a maximum of
three osteopathic colleges. If you receive a waiver, but wish to
apply to more than three colleges, beginning with the fourth
designation, you must pay the standard application fee. For example,
to apply to one additional college (four total), you must pay the
standard AACOMAS fee for one college; to apply to two additional
colleges (five total), you must pay the standard fee for two
colleges.
The AACOMAS application fee waiver is for the AACOMAS fee only.
If you receive an AACOMAS fee waiver, your name is forwarded to the
osteopathic medical colleges in the event they grant a waiver of
their supplemental application fee. Applicants who apply for a fee
waiver and qualify financially but are too late to receive an
AACOMAS waiver will also have their names forwarded to osteopathic
medical colleges requesting such information. Meeting AACOMAS'
eligibility criterion for a fee waiver, however, does not guarantee
a waiver will be granted for the supplemental fee.
To be considered for an AACOMAS fee waiver, applicants should
do the following:
Submit a copy of the Student Aid Report for the current year
received from the Department of Education if you have completed and
submitted the Free Application for Student Financial Aid (FAFSA) for
aid to a previous institution. Sign and date the copy of the form in
blue or black ink and submit the copy along with a stamped,
self-addressed envelope to:
AACOMAS
Fee Waiver Application
5550 Friendship Blvd., Suite 310
Chevy Chase , MD 20815
The copy must include your estimated family contribution (EFC)
usually located in the upper right-hand corner of the first page of
the SAR. If you were selected for verification (usually noted by an
asterisk next to the EFC) also submit either your recalculated EFC
obtained from your financial aid officer or attach supporting
documents plus an explanation. Additional verification may be
required.
Be sure to follow the instructions above carefully in order to
avoid any delays in processing. If you did not complete the FAFSA or
do not have a copy of your Student Aid Report, please contact the US
Department of Education
