Overview:
When thinking about medical school, one of the biggest concerns for applicants is how to afford four years of graduate education. This page will give you an overview of the average costs you should expect and different ways that you can finance your schooling without taking out lots of student loans.
Expected Costs |
Medical school is a substantial financial investment into your future. Depending on whether you go a public or private insititution, and whether you are paying in state vs. out of state tuition costs can vary.
Private Schools: private medical schools are generally more expensive then public schools, but it will not matter if you are in or out of state for cost. Following the link provided, you will be taken to a list of tutition costs provided by the AAMC for private schools: list or private school costs Public Schools: public schools can be cheaper, especially if you are planning on going in state. This can help you save on costs, especially if you are not offered very much government or scholarship money to help you finance your schooling. Following the link provided, you will be taken to a list of tuition costs provided by the AAMC for public schools: list of public school costs |
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The Army Reserves has a Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) that is designed to aid students with full tuition payment at any accredited medical school. In order to qualify for this scholarship program you must: - Be a US citizen with a baccalaureate degree - Enrolled in a graduate program - Full time student - Be eligible to be a commissioned officer (US Army). This means that you will join the military and be commissioned as an officer because of your graduate degree in a specialized field (Today’s Military, 2015), in this case as a doctor. The agreement for this scholarship is that you agree to serve one year of active duty for every year you receive the scholarship, and there may be further obligations depending on residency and fellowship training. The Navy also offers the HPSP, which is largely the same as the army. The stipulations for this branch of the military are as follows: - You must be accepted to a medical school approved by the AMA (American Medical Association) or AOA (American Osteopathic Association) - Be a US citizen - Pass a physical test to become a commissioned officer - Be under the age of 42 (Navy Medicine) Once you decide to commit to the program you will receive full tuition paid for all four years of graduate school as well as a stipend and money for supplies. Once you have completed your graduate education, the contract stipulates that you will join the navy and serve active duty for the number of years that you received the HPSP Another way to help ease the debt of medical school, is finding a public service position after graduation. By working through different centers such as: Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, or National Health Service Corps, you may be able to get loan forgiveness. You are required to make 120 monthly payments in a payment plan while in a service position, then the government will forgive the remaining balence of loans. There are certain loans that are eligible for this program and those include: any made under the Direct Loan program and some different federal loans, if they can be made a part of the Direct Loan program. Make sure to know what kind of student loans you are taking out during your medical career, especially if you are planning for public service loan forgivenss to help you pay for school. When interviewing for different residency programs, you may want to ask if the program qualifies as a non-profit or will meet the criteria for loan forgivenss. This will help you decided if it is truely a program you would be interested in pursuing. For more specific information on this program visit the following links: 1, 2 FIRST (Financial Information, Resrouces, Services and Tools) is a site created by the AAMC that provides a lot of information on how to manage student medical debt, the types of loans that are available to take out, and serveral different repayment options for students. This is a great resource for anyone who is unsure about how they will finance graduate school. I would highly recommend you visit the link: https://www.aamc.org/services/first/ to gain more information about financial aid. |