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School of Medicine School of Medicine
  1. School of Medicine
  2. Research
  3. Student Opportunities
  4. MSTP-SURF
  5. Eligibility

Eligibility

Criteria

To be eligible to apply for MSTP-SURF, applicants must:

  • Be a current undergraduate student. Graduating students are not eligible to apply
  • Be in good academic standing with a minimum of 3.5 GPA

Eligible applicants must meet all criteria listed in Group A, and at least one of the criteria listed in Group B:

Group A

1. Citizenship / Immigration Status: Students appointed to this program must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States or must have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e., in possession of a currently valid Alien Registration Receipt Card I-551 or some other legal verification of such status). Non-citizen nationals are generally persons born in possessions of the United States (i.e., American Samoa and Swains Island). Individuals on temporary or student visas and individuals holding PhD, MD, DVM or equivalent doctoral degrees in the health sciences are not eligible.

2. Undergraduate Student Status: (1) have successfully completed at least one undergraduate year at an accredited school or university (including baccalaureate schools of nursing); or (2) be attending community or junior colleges provided they are enrolled in at least three courses per academic term and have completed at least 6 courses.

Group B

  1. Individuals from an underrepresented group (URM):
    See NSF’s Report: Defining Race and Ethnicity
    • American Indian/Alaska Native
    • African American/Black
    • Mexican/Mexican American/Chicano
    • Other Hispanic/Latino (includes Cuban, Puerto Rican, Central and South American)
    • Filipino/Filipino American
    • Hmong/ Hmong American
    • Pacific Islander (includes Native Hawaiian, Micronesian, Polynesian, other Pacific Islanders)
    • Vietnamese/Vietnamese American
    • Two or more ethnicities, when one or more are from the preceding categories in this list

  2. Individuals who meet one (1) of the six (6) disability criteria
    [as defined by the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) using a series of yes-or-no questions]:
    1. Hearing difficulty
    2. Vision difficulty
    3. Cognitive difficulty
    4. Ambulatory difficulty
    5. Self-care difficulty
    6. Independent living difficulty

  3. Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, defined as those who who meet 2 or more of the following criteria:
    1. Were or currently are homeless, as defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act ​
    2. Were in the foster care system, as defined by the Administration for Children and Families
    3. Were eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program for two or more years
    4. Have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor's degree (PDF) 
    5. Were eligible for Federal Pell grants 
    6. Received support from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) as a parent or child
    7. Grew up in one of the following areas (Only one of the two possibilities below can be used as a criterion for the disadvantaged background definition):