Florida International University's College of Medicine is ready to welcome its first class of 43 students seeking a Doctor of Medicine degree in August 2009. A high percentage of admitted students are from minority groups that have been traditionally under-represented in medical schools. Many will also not be able to afford medical school tuition without incurring significant amounts of debt. When you support a student, you support the entire community.

Scholarships may be named after an individual, family or organizational donor or in memory or honor of anyone the donor wishes to designate. Scholarships will be awarded beginning with the fall of 2009, and the same student will continue to receive the award, provided that he or she remains in good standing and makes satisfactory progress toward an M.D. degree.

In order to attract the very best students from South Florida and beyond to its first class of students, the College of Medicine has established The First Class Fund.

The goal for The First Class Fund is simple - to provide a scholarship to every qualified medical student who attends FIU in its inaugural class.

As a state-supported College of Medicine, tuition and fees at FIU will be about $25,000 a year for 2009-2010. Although modest compared to private medical schools, the cost of four years - assuming just a modest tuition increase over four years - will be approximately $100,000. This will place a severe financial burden on many students, especially those who have dependents or who need to contribute to the support of their families.

An individual, family, corporation or other organization can establish a named scholarship within The First Class Fund that will provide a full-tuition scholarship for four years.

Donors may choose from two options regarding how their gifts are used:

• Current Fund Scholarships:
  A gift of $100,000, which can be paid in four annual installments of $25,000 each, will provide a scholarship of $25,000 annually to a student that will cover tuition and fees for all four years of medical school.


• Endowed Scholarships:
  A Named Endowed Scholarship in the College of Medicine will exist forever, thus honoring or memorializing the individual for whom the scholarship is named.
  
  A gift of $500,000, which can be paid over a five-year period, qualifies for a 50% match in state funds, creating an endowment corpus of $750,000. Once state matching funds are added to the endowment, it will yield $30,000 per year, thus providing a full-tuition scholarship for a medical student in the future.
  
  A gift of $750,000, which can be paid over a six-year period, qualifies for a 70% match, creating an endowment corpus of $1,275,000. Once matching funds are paid, it will yield more that $50,000 per year. This will enable FIU to award two scholarships of $25,000 each annually.

We would be pleased to help you establish a scholarship fund in your name or in the name of a beloved family member. For more information on giving to the College of Medicine please contact Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Associate Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Affairs at (305)348-1463 or via email at mucarsel@fiu.edu.