Meadville Lombard is committed to helping our students finance their education. As you begin your application for admission, you might want to look over some of our resources available to help you calculate your finances: tuition and fees, and cost of attendance. Whether it is through institutional aid, federal student aid, veterans’ benefits, or other sources of funding, we work with our students to help them navigate the task of funding their education. Below is an outline of some of these types of financial aid.
Thanks to generous gifts from individuals and organizations who support Meadville Lombard and our mission, we have been able to meet more and more of our students’ financial needs in recent years. Institutional aid is available for students enrolled in the Master of Arts (Religion) and Master of Divinity degree programs.
Meadville Lombard provides two forms of institutional aid: merit-based aid in the form of named scholarships and need-based aid in the form of tuition reduction grants. All institutional aid is subject to both eligibility and availability.
To apply for institutional aid students should do the following:
Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) (US citizens and permanent residents only)
Schedule a financial aid interview with Student Affairs after your application for admission and institutional aid application is complete.
For merit-based aid, consideration is based on the information you provide on your application for admission, the institutional aid application, and your financial aid interview. For need-based aid, consideration is based on the information you provide on your application for admission, the FAFSA, the institutional aid application, and your financial aid interview.
The Financial Aid Awarding Committee reviews Institutional Aid Applications based on priority deadlines. Applications received by the priority deadlines are given first consideration for institutional aid. Applications received after the priority deadlines are reviewed on a rolling basis.
For Spring admission
For Fall admission
Meadville Lombard offers full-tuition merit-based scholarships and smaller merit-based scholarships to full-time students enrolled in the Master of Arts (Religion) or Master of Divinity degree programs. Named scholarships are subject to eligibility and availability.
Full-tuition scholarships provide students 100% tuition assistance for the length of their program as long as the student remains full-time, maintains good academic standing, and completes their program as outlined in their financial aid offer letter. Priority consideration is given in the order in which applications are completed.
The following is a partial list of our full-tuition scholarships. Not all scholarships are available every year.
Meadville Lombard offers need-based institutional aid to students in the form of tuition reduction grants. These grants offer a reduction of tuition charges in the form of an annual grant for the length of each student’s degree program. To be eligible, students must be enrolled in a degree program at least half-time and demonstrate financial need. As with named scholarships, tuition reduction grants are subject to eligibility and availability.
The committee considers applications received on a rolling basis.
For merit-based aid, consideration is based on the information you provide on your application for admission, the institutional aid application, and your financial aid interview. For need-based aid, consideration is based on the information you provide on your application for admission, the FAFSA, the institutional aid application, and your financial aid interview.
Other scholarships and aid are also available to our students including scholarships for Unitarian Universalist ministerial students, scholarships from the John Haynes Holmes Memorial Fellowship, and others. We also accept the vast majority of scholarships and grants that students receive from outside institutions. Studentaid.gov’s scholarship page is a useful resource for identifying other forms of available aid.
Scholarships for UU ministerial students
John Haynes Holmes Memorial Fellowships
Studentaid.gov resource page
Any student who is enrolled at least half-time in a graduate degree program at Meadville Lombard, who is in good academic standing with the school, and who is a citizen or permanent resident of the United States may be eligible to receive federal student loans. Information on federal direct loans is available from the Federal Student Aid website.
Meadville Lombard participates in the GI Bill® and other education benefits available through the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
All VA students must file an application when they first start school before they can receive benefits. Students who have never received VA benefits must file an original application.
VA students can submit applications online at va.gov. If students don’t have access to apply online, they can call 1-888-442-4551 and ask that an application be mailed to them.
More information about education benefits offered by VA—including the GI Bill®—is available at the official U.S. government website.