Updated
AAMC Fee Assistance Program (2026-27): MCAT & AMCAS Waiver
What the AAMC's fee waiver covers this year, who qualifies and when to apply, with the savings worked out.
The AAMC Fee Assistance Program waives AMCAS fees for up to 20 medical schools ($1,092 at 2027 prices), cuts MCAT registration from $355 to $145 and includes free MCAT prep. You qualify if each household on your application earned 400 percent or less of the HHS poverty guideline, which is $128,600 for a family of four in the 48 contiguous states this year. It is not retroactive, so apply before you register for the MCAT or submit AMCAS.
What does the AAMC Fee Assistance Program cover?
The AAMC's 2026 award benefits page lists what you get once approved. Benefits start on the day you are approved and run to December 31 of the next year, so a 2026 approval lasts until Dec. 31, 2027 and a 2027 approval until Dec. 31, 2028. The AAMC notes the benefits can change from year to year.
AMCAS application fees: Up to 20 schools free ($1,092)
All AMCAS fees waived for one submission covering up to 20 schools, submitted by Dec. 31, 2027 for a 2026 award. Each school past 20 costs $48. Unused schools do not carry over to the next cycle.
MCAT registration: $145 instead of $355
You save $210 on every MCAT you register for while the award is active. The AAMC may also help pay for an updated evaluation if you apply for MCAT accommodations.
MCAT and PREview Official Prep: Free
The full MCAT Official Prep Online-Only Bundle and the PREview Scored Practice Exam. You have to opt in to get them, then log in to the MCAT Official Prep Hub.
AAMC PREview exam: 2027 terms not posted yet
2026 awards covered the first PREview exam ($100) and half off later ones in the 2026 testing year, which has ended. The AAMC hasn't posted the 2027 terms yet.
ERAS, later on: 60 percent off up to 50 applications
Your approval follows you to medical school and applies to your residency applications automatically. The AAMC says the details of the ERAS discount will come later.
Rules for the 20 free schools and the award window
The 20 free schools must go in one AMCAS submission. “Additional fees will be charged for each medical school designation beyond the initial set of 20.” “The AMCAS application benefits awarded to you can be used for only one application cycle”, so schools you don't use are gone when the cycle ends. Plan your MCAT inside the award window. If a school asks for the AAMC PREview exam, check the benefits page for 2027 terms before you register.
Who qualifies for AAMC fee assistance?
The eligibility page sets three rules. You need a US home address. You must be preparing to apply to medical school, which means not accepted, enrolled or graduated from any MD, DO or international school and not preparing for residency. People who were accepted but formally withdrew can still apply. And each household on your application must have a 2025 total family income at or below 400 percent of the 2025 HHS poverty guideline for its size.
Check the income rule
For a 2026 award, each household on your application must be at or under 400 percent of the 2025 HHS poverty guideline for its size.
Where do you live?
Will you be under 26 when you submit?
Were your parents married to each other at the end of 2025?
- Your household (1 person): limit $62,600
- Your parents' household (4 people): limit $128,600
Add each household's 2025 income to see the result.
If the AAMC moves to the 2026 guidelines for 2027 awards, which it hasn't said, the limit for 1 person would be $63,840. Our math, not the AAMC's. Nothing you type leaves this page.
How the income limit is worked out
In the 48 contiguous states and DC, the 2025 HHS guideline is $15,650 for one person plus $5,500 for each additional person. Four times that gives $62,600 for a household of one and $128,600 for a family of four. Alaska and Hawaii have higher guidelines. The AAMC page links its full income chart by family size, so check your number there.
What about the 2026 HHS guidelines?
HHS has since published its 2026 guidelines, $33,000 for a family of four. The AAMC hasn't said which year a 2027 award will use. If it keeps the same rule one year on, 400 percent of the 2026 guideline for a family of four is $132,000. HHS poverty guidelines
Proof of address and the five-award limit
Proof of address can be an unexpired ID, a signed lease or a recent bill or statement with your name. A passport doesn't count because it shows no address. You can receive an award at most five times: “You may be awarded Fee Assistance Program benefits a maximum of five times during your lifetime.”
Do you need your parents' information?
Usually, yes. Unlike some federal aid programs, “the Fee Assistance Program requires your parents’ financial information, if you are under age 26 at the time of submission.” That holds whatever your marital or tax filing status, wherever your parents live and whether or not they are willing to help. If both parents have died, you won't be asked for more.
Divorced, separated or unmarried parents
If your parents were not married to each other at the end of 2025 (divorced, legally separated or never married), you report each parent's household separately, and each household on your application must meet the income limit. Married parents count as one household even if they live apart. Stepparents married to a parent count. Grandparents, foster parents and legal guardians do not.
Exceptions to the parent information rule
The 2026 Essentials guide lists these exceptions for applicants under 26. Contact program staff at feeassistance@aamc.org or 202-828-0600 before you submit if you think one applies.
- You are estranged from your parents (contact program staff and complete a form before you submit).
- You were legally emancipated.
- You do not know if a parent is living.
- A parent is incarcerated, institutionalized, permanently incapacitated or hospitalized.
- You were in foster care or under a legal guardian's care when you came of age.
- Another circumstance keeps you from getting a parent's financial information (contact program staff and complete a form first).
How and when should you apply?
Apply first, then spend. “Fee Assistance Program benefits are not retroactive.” “No refunds will be issued for any fees you paid before your Fee Assistance Program application was approved.” The 2027 AMCAS Applicant Guide adds that “you must submit a completed Fee Assistance Program application before you submit your AMCAS application.”
Allow a few weeks. On October 30 the AAMC's main program page said it was “Processing applications that were “Submitted and Pending Verification” on October 20.” If you want an early 2027 MCAT date, apply now. Registration for January to September 2027 dates is already open, and the reduced fee only applies once you are approved. The steps:
1. Sign in with your one AAMC ID
Benefits attach to the AAMC ID you apply with, so use the same account you will use for the MCAT and AMCAS. Don't create a second account.
2. Gather 2025 tax documents
Your 2025 IRS 1040 (or your W-2 and 1099 forms if you won't file a return), plus your parents' if you are under 26. You also need proof of a US home address. A passport doesn't count because it has no address.
3. Submit, then upload what staff ask for
If staff need more documents, your status shows Submitted and On Hold until they arrive. Signed consent forms are required for you and each parent household.
4. Wait for the decision before you pay anything
Once your file is complete it moves to Submitted and Pending Verification. Staff aim to reply within ten business days, and the AAMC workbook says verification can take up to three weeks.
5. Then register for the MCAT and submit AMCAS
Benefits apply only to purchases made after approval, so register for the MCAT and submit AMCAS after the email arrives.
Applying again, and appeals
Awards run by calendar year and you can apply once per year. If you win awards in two years in a row, the unused benefits from the first one end when the second is approved. A denial can be appealed only if your or your parents' income was entered wrong, not over the rules themselves. Our application timeline shows where this fits in the year before you apply.
How much does fee assistance save?
The AAMC cost of applying page lists the 2027 AMCAS fee as $180 for the first school and $48 for each one after. A 20-school list costs $1,092, the same value the AAMC puts on the waiver. Add one MCAT ($210 off) and one award saves $1,302, before free prep and any secondary waivers.
AMCAS fees by list size, with and without the waiver
| Schools | Full price | With fee assistance |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | $852 | $0 |
| 20 | $1,092 | $0 |
| 25 | $1,332 | $240 |
| 30 | $1,572 | $480 |
Each MCAT retake during the award saves another $210. For how long a list makes sense, see how many medical schools to apply to. If you go on to residency, the discount carries into ERAS fees.
Do medical schools waive secondary fees for FAP recipients?
Some do, school by school. The AAMC says “If applicants qualify for the AAMC Fee Assistance Program, some medical schools will waive the secondary application fee.” These five say so on their own admissions pages, and their listed fees add up to $420:
Brody School of Medicine at ECU: $100 fee
Its supplemental application fee waiver applies to FAP recipients. School page
WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine: $50 fee
The secondary fee is waived if the AAMC approved you for the FAP. School page
New York Medical College: $135 fee
Waived for applicants approved for the FAP. You send your FAP documentation instead of paying. School page
UNR Med (University of Nevada, Reno)
Waives the secondary fee for FAP recipients, and its Casper and Duet fees too. School page
UC San Diego School of Medicine: $135 fee
If AMCAS gave you a fee waiver, the secondary fee is waived automatically on the payment page. School page
Policies change each cycle, so check each school's page before you pay. See our secondary essays guide.
Does the AAMC waiver cover AACOMAS or TMDSAS?
No. DO schools and Texas public schools use their own services and rules. AACOMAS has its own waiver for the first program, and TMDSAS charges a flat $235. “TMDSAS does not grant application fee waivers.”
How the AACOMAS fee waiver works
AACOMAS charges $198 for the first program and $60 for each one after. Its own waiver covers the first $198, and “a limited number of fee waivers are provided to qualified applicants on a first-come, first-served basis.” The limit is 200 percent of the HHS guideline ($66,000 for a family of four this cycle), you must ask before you submit, and you then have two weeks to submit.
Practice the question this story often answers
Applicants who managed money or family pressure often have a strong answer to the challenge question. Keep it about what you did. More ways to answer it in the most significant challenge you have overcome.
“Tell me about a challenge you've overcome.”
Interviewers want to see how you respond to a hard situation, not how hard it was. Name the challenge in a sentence, spend most of your answer on what you did, and end with what it taught you.
Our example answer (we wrote it, not a real applicant)
In my second year of college my dad lost his job, and I started working 25 hours a week at a pharmacy to help with rent.
My grades slipped that fall, so I sat down with my advisor and rebuilt my schedule around my shifts. I studied on the bus, moved my lab section to mornings and told my manager which weeks were exams.
By spring my grades were back up, and I had learned to ask for help early instead of waiting until I was underwater.
Working the pharmacy counter also showed me how often patients skip medications because of cost, which is a big part of why I want to work in primary care.
Sources: AAMC FAP benefits, eligibility, program page, 2026 Essentials and application workbook, 2027 AMCAS Applicant Guide, cost of applying and 2027 MCAT calendar, HHS poverty guidelines, AACOMAS, TMDSAS and each school's own admissions page. Checked October 30, 2026. The AMCAS guide and the AAMC cost page are from copies read October 28, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What does the AAMC Fee Assistance Program cover?
A 2026 award waives all AMCAS fees for one submission of up to 20 schools (worth $1,092), cuts MCAT registration from $355 to $145 and includes free MCAT Official Prep products. It later gives a discount on ERAS residency applications.
Who qualifies for AAMC fee assistance?
You need a US home address, you must be preparing to apply to medical school (not accepted, enrolled or graduated), and each household on your application must have 2025 income at or below 400 percent of the 2025 HHS poverty guideline. For a family of four in the 48 contiguous states that is $128,600.
Do I need my parents' income for the Fee Assistance Program?
Yes, if you are under 26 when you submit, even if you are independent for taxes, married or your parents won't help. Parents who were not married to each other at the end of 2025 are counted as two households, and each household must meet the income rule. Exceptions include estrangement, emancipation, foster care and an incarcerated or incapacitated parent, and some must be approved by program staff before you submit.
How long does the AAMC Fee Assistance Program take?
Once all your documents are in, AAMC staff aim to reply within ten business days, and the AAMC workbook says verification can take up to three weeks. Missing documents put your application on hold, so apply well before you need to register for the MCAT or submit AMCAS.
Can I apply to more than 20 schools with fee assistance?
Yes. The waiver covers 20 schools, and each school after that costs $48. A 25-school list costs you $240 instead of $1,332, and the 20 free schools must go in one submission.
Is the Fee Assistance Program retroactive?
No. Fees you paid before approval are not refunded, and if you submitted AMCAS before your approval you can't use the free schools. Wait for the decision before you register for the MCAT or submit AMCAS.
Do medical schools waive secondary fees for FAP recipients?
Some do, and each school sets its own policy. Brody at ECU, WSU Elson S. Floyd, New York Medical College, UNR Med and UC San Diego all say on their own sites that they waive the secondary fee for FAP recipients. Check each school's page.
Does the AAMC fee waiver work for AACOMAS or TMDSAS?
No. AACOMAS runs its own limited, first-come fee waiver that covers the first program ($198) and uses a lower income limit. TMDSAS charges a flat $235 and does not grant fee waivers.