Please direct your inquiries to them.

Samuel Merritt University is pleased to announce that we received a grant for $2.6 million to support diversity among the students in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program.

The Scholarships Awarded Under the Grant:
The grant of $650,000 per year over four years is from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The grant is for the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (SDS) program. Under this program, the University will award $15,000 per year to each recipient, the maximum amount allowed by the program. New and incoming students are eligible to receive this scholarship. Students who remain in good standing will continue to receive priority for funding in each year they are successfully enrolled in the program. The University will be able to award 43 scholarships per year to new and continuing students under this program. (Please see "Important Information" below.)

Eligibility Requirements
Students must meet the admission requirements for the program.

Students who are eligible for these scholarships will be able to show that he/she either:

• Comes from an educationally disadvantaged background. Examples include, but are not limited to
• First generation in family to attend college
• Graduate of a high school in which a lower percentage of students go on to college
• Graduate of a high school with a high percentage of students on free or reduced price lunches.

OR

• Comes from a family with a low income. Because the DPT program is a graduate program students who are at least 24 years old are considered independent and it is their personal income that is the basis for meeting this criteria.

Under this grant program, minority status, in itself, is not a factor in determining if a student is disadvantaged. Students who are from underrepresented minorities will receive stronger consideration for these scholarships because Samuel Merritt University is committed to increasing the number of physical therapists who are from underrepresented minorities in the profession.

Important Information
The University’s continued receipt of these scholarships is contingent on our ability to meet the program requirements and continued federal funding. HRSA makes that determination each year. The University firmly believes we will meet these requirements and the program will continue through the 2015-2016 academic year. However, these awards cannot be guaranteed.

Dr. Terry Nordstrom PT, EdD
Chairperson – Physical Therapy Department

Lizzie Mayo
Assistant Director of Admission

Premier Health Sciences since 1909