Thread: Good news for MUA. On path for Title IV Loan

It was posted on the MUA page that Nevis is recognized by NCFMEA... This means that medical education in Nevis is similar to education at American Schools. This, in addition with other requirements, allows MUA to apply for Federal Title IV loans for American students.... I remember my 1st semester at MUA, we had a site inspection by ACCM and was approved. Now we just need to meet the other requirement (60% of entering class passing the step, etc...)

NEVIS RECEIVES COMPARABILITY DETERMINATION FROM NCFMEA

On April 10, 2012, the National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFMEA) met in Washington, D.C. to evaluate the report submitted by the Accreditation Commission on Colleges of Medicine (ACCM) on behalf of Nevis regarding its medical education accreditation activities. The purpose of the NCFMEA’s review was to determine the comparability of Nevis’ medical accreditation system for Doctor of Medicine programs to the systems used to accredit such programs in the United States (U.S.). Under U.S. law, accredited schools in a jurisdiction that the NCFMEA finds comparable may apply to participate in the U.S. William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) program.

The NCFMEA reviewed and accepted the report submitted by the ACCM on behalf of Nevis regarding the ACCM’s medical accreditation activities in Nevis and issued a determination of comparability. Nevis will subsequently be posted on the U.S. Department of Education’s list of comparable jurisdictions.

Originally Posted by Dr19124

Now we just need to meet the other requirement (60% of entering class passing the step, etc...)

Would you or anyone else care to expand? How does MUA advertise a 90+% pass rate?

Originally Posted by michep21

Would you or anyone else care to expand? How does MUA advertise a 90+% pass rate?

It is my belief that the 90% statistic relates to the number who pass Step1 at the first attempt from the number who passed Med 5 and the COMP in a particular batch of students. Usually Med 5 class comprises of students who entered the school at varying times. So the 60% statistic quoted relates to eg. From the total number of students who entered May semester 2011 only about 60% will graduate from Nevis Basic Sciences in Dec 2012 These are the students who pass uninterrupted each semester Med 1 to Med5 , the Comp and the Step.

Thanks for the information, it seems like from other posts on ValueMD that having the federal loan program takes away a lot of the hassles of financing your education!

Originally Posted by Dr19124

It was posted on the MUA page that Nevis is recognized by NCFMEA... This means that medical education in Nevis is similar to education at American Schools. This, in addition with other requirements, allows MUA to apply for Federal Title IV loans for American students.... I remember my 1st semester at MUA, we had a site inspection by ACCM and was approved. Now we just need to meet the other requirement (60% of entering class passing the step, etc...)

NEVIS RECEIVES COMPARABILITY DETERMINATION FROM NCFMEA

On April 10, 2012, the National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFMEA) met in Washington, D.C. to evaluate the report submitted by the Accreditation Commission on Colleges of Medicine (ACCM) on behalf of Nevis regarding its medical education accreditation activities. The purpose of the NCFMEA’s review was to determine the comparability of Nevis’ medical accreditation system for Doctor of Medicine programs to the systems used to accredit such programs in the United States (U.S.). Under U.S. law, accredited schools in a jurisdiction that the NCFMEA finds comparable may apply to participate in the U.S. William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) program.

The NCFMEA reviewed and accepted the report submitted by the ACCM on behalf of Nevis regarding the ACCM’s medical accreditation activities in Nevis and issued a determination of comparability. Nevis will subsequently be posted on the U.S. Department of Education’s list of comparable jurisdictions.

Can anyone explain why this mentioned Nevis so many times, Isn't it MUA that applied?, Isn't MUA the one getting the accreditation? Isn't it MUA that is working towards Title 4 loans? Why doen't this post say MUA, I find it very strange, did the Nevis Island Administration apply.

Just my 2 cents worth, I am really please that MUA has been granted the status it will be a benefit for everyone joining MUA.

Sharky, NCFMEA does not accredit medical schools. The committee decides whether the country's standard for approving medical schools is comparable to that used in the US. With this in mind, any medical school located in Nevis will be deemed comparable to accredited US schools. Since the ACCM only accredited MUA (in Nevis), and the ACCM's standard is accepted by NCFMEA, it makes sense they ony defended Nevis. Now, if they would have defended St. kitts as well, that will mean Windsor and UMHS will also be able to apply for Title IV ( if they fulfill all the other requirements). Note that ACCM also represented SABA and AUC.

Not to be a debby-downer here but anyone who is thinking of attending MUA with the hopes that TitleIV funding will be available in the near future should be careful. If you go to the following site, National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFMEA) you will see that Saba has been approved since 2003 and has yet to receive any federal funding, despite the approvals, track record and existence for nearly 20 years. If federal funding is important stick with the big3 because the chances of any caribbean school achieving federal funding is slim at best. The caribbean schools are very expensive to finance for two reasons, first being tuition, living and travel fees and second would be the high drop-out rate that leads to defaulting. Given the current economic climate and the imminent student-loan bubble, I wouldn't be surprised to see more foreign schools losing funding as opposed to gaining it (Lublin or some other polish school lost theirs temporarily just a few months ago, although I think they are getting it back).

Originally Posted by Go-Green

Not to be a debby-downer here but anyone who is thinking of attending MUA with the hopes that TitleIV funding will be available in the near future should be careful. If you go to the following site, National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFMEA) you will see that Saba has been approved since 2003 and has yet to receive any federal funding, despite the approvals, track record and existence for nearly 20 years. If federal funding is important stick with the big3 because the chances of any caribbean school achieving federal funding is slim at best. The caribbean schools are very expensive to finance for two reasons, first being tuition, living and travel fees and second would be the high drop-out rate that leads to defaulting. Given the current economic climate and the imminent student-loan bubble, I wouldn't be surprised to see more foreign schools losing funding as opposed to gaining it (Lublin or some other polish school lost theirs temporarily just a few months ago, although I think they are getting it back).

My two cents- Can we infer that hopefully MUA will get Cali approval at a faster pace.

Originally Posted by sandyjay

My two cents- Can we infer that hopefully MUA will get Cali approval at a faster pace.

I don't think it will happen at a faster pace, but clearly they are on their way to to cali approval as long as there aren't any unforeseen issues.

Originally Posted by sandyjay

My two cents- Can we infer that hopefully MUA will get Cali approval at a faster pace.

I agree with ntc26 that it won't be faster because the California Medical Board (CMB) has no direct affiliation that I know of with the NCFMEA or ACCM. It would be logical to infer that before a university is able to get federal funding, the university graduates should be eligible for practice in every state, but politics can be fickle. How fast MUA gets California approval really depends on the state budget, meeting agendas and how many political/legal connections the university has with the CMB.