More Medical Schools Reduce Debt-Burden on Students

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According to a Medscape report, 11 medical schools in the last five years have eliminated or reduced tuition. The University of Houston waived tuition for its first class of students. And other programs, like the Yale School of Medicine, are demonstrating a longer-term commitment. The school recently announced that a large donor gift will ensure that all medical students with demonstrated financial need will take on no more than $10,000 in loans.

On average, medical school tuition has increased by $1500 a year since 2015, which has significantly outpaced inflation. And the majority of students, almost three-quarters, take out loans to pay for its cost. Students bear an average debt burden of $200,000 to $215,000, although about 14 percent have loans worth more than $300,000. This is particularly noteworthy because tuition actually makes up a small percentage of schools’ operating budgets. While it varies between programs, at NYU Grossman, prior to it becoming tuition-free, tuition comprised just 0.25 percent of the budget. Via Medscape, Daniel Barron, MD, and a psychiatrist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, argued that most schools could cut tuition by belt-tightening and redirecting some existing funds.

"Tuition can't keep rising without having unintended consequences. The resulting debt is putting a massive amount of pressure on future generations of physicians," said Robert Pearl, MD, and a professor at Stanford’s School of Medicine told Medscape.

Check out our blog, to review a list of schools that have created programs to reduce or waive tuition.

You may also want to check out the Education Data Initiative which provides a complete list of average costs for resident and non-resident attendees at the 193 accredited medical schools (allopathic and osteopathic).

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