How do middle class kids afford med school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the 1980s, many paid for medical school with massive student loans. It is not a new issue.

These loans are now capped.
We are using what’s left in 529 for housing/tests/fees and paying tuition only with loan. Applying for financial aid, but most schools only offer after 1st year. Will do work study to offset tuition.

Even decades ago, there were caps on Federal student loans. It was not unusual for a medical student to also have some non-Federal loans in addition to Federal loans. Medical students who survive the first year (and most will survive) are a good credit risk.

Again, this is not a new problem.

It’s not a new problem but the loan caps have made it way worse in the last year exacerbated by tuition costs rising above where they were decades ago. We are looking at private schools with a cost of attendance over $100k and loan caps at $50k.
Obviously going to a public in state medical school is fiscally smarter (though we know a lot kids without a choice of medical schools who will go wherever they get in).

[Anonymous]

I wish we lived in a country that valued and supported education. We live in a country where exploitation is the main goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m guessing all the need based programs take into account parents income, and the cutoff is probably not that high. Just because parents make $300k combined and live in a house that has appreciated to $900k does not mean they can afford $360k of med school tuition on top of paying for college.

That's not school's problem to figure it out. That's yours.

I wasn’t talking about myself. We have money for med/grad school for our kids. I was just saying the need based programs and not going to help most kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the 1980s, many paid for medical school with massive student loans. It is not a new issue.

These loans are now capped.
We are using what’s left in 529 for housing/tests/fees and paying tuition only with loan. Applying for financial aid, but most schools only offer after 1st year. Will do work study to offset tuition.

Even decades ago, there were caps on Federal student loans. It was not unusual for a medical student to also have some non-Federal loans in addition to Federal loans. Medical students who survive the first year (and most will survive) are a good credit risk.

Again, this is not a new problem.

It’s not a new problem but the loan caps have made it way worse in the last year exacerbated by tuition costs rising above where they were decades ago. We are looking at private schools with a cost of attendance over $100k and loan caps at $50k.
Obviously going to a public in state medical school is fiscally smarter (though we know a lot kids without a choice of medical schools who will go wherever they get in).

There have been caps all along. The caps are higher now than 20 years ago. I am very sorry it is not working well for you, but essentially the same situation existed 50 years ago, 40 years ago, 30 years ago, 20 years, and 10 years ago.

[Anonymous]

We saved aggressively over the years. We didn’t assume or rely on FA or loans. Paid for three kids’ undergrad and post grad (including one thru med school). Max HHI was 350k but most years less than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the 1980s, many paid for medical school with massive student loans. It is not a new issue.

These loans are now capped.
We are using what’s left in 529 for housing/tests/fees and paying tuition only with loan. Applying for financial aid, but most schools only offer after 1st year. Will do work study to offset tuition.

Even decades ago, there were caps on Federal student loans. It was not unusual for a medical student to also have some non-Federal loans in addition to Federal loans. Medical students who survive the first year (and most will survive) are a good credit risk.

Again, this is not a new problem.

It’s not a new problem but the loan caps have made it way worse in the last year exacerbated by tuition costs rising above where they were decades ago. We are looking at private schools with a cost of attendance over $100k and loan caps at $50k.
Obviously going to a public in state medical school is fiscally smarter (though we know a lot kids without a choice of medical schools who will go wherever they get in).

There have been caps all along. The caps are higher now than 20 years ago. I am very sorry it is not working well for you, but essentially the same situation existed 50 years ago, 40 years ago, 30 years ago, 20 years, and 10 years ago.

You’re not following along with costs and the new bill. We are at a point where attendance costs will significantly exceed the federal loan caps. You can say it’s always been this way, but the reality is it has changed recently.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12658764/#:~:text=Results,medical%20school%20(Figure%20C).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the 1980s, many paid for medical school with massive student loans. It is not a new issue.

These loans are now capped.
We are using what’s left in 529 for housing/tests/fees and paying tuition only with loan. Applying for financial aid, but most schools only offer after 1st year. Will do work study to offset tuition.

Even decades ago, there were caps on Federal student loans. It was not unusual for a medical student to also have some non-Federal loans in addition to Federal loans. Medical students who survive the first year (and most will survive) are a good credit risk.

Again, this is not a new problem.

It’s not a new problem but the loan caps have made it way worse in the last year exacerbated by tuition costs rising above where they were decades ago. We are looking at private schools with a cost of attendance over $100k and loan caps at $50k.
Obviously going to a public in state medical school is fiscally smarter (though we know a lot kids without a choice of medical schools who will go wherever they get in).

There have been caps all along. The caps are higher now than 20 years ago. I am very sorry it is not working well for you, but essentially the same situation existed 50 years ago, 40 years ago, 30 years ago, 20 years, and 10 years ago.

You’re not following along with costs and the new bill. We are at a point where attendance costs will significantly exceed the federal loan caps. You can say it’s always been this way, but the reality is it has changed recently.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12658764/#:~:text=Results,medical%20school%20(Figure%20C).

There have been caps for at least 50 years. Even 10 years ago many had to take out private loans because of Federal caps. The latest tweak really has not changed the fundamental issue.

[Anonymous]

Target NYU and lock in on getting admitted. It’s tuition free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the 1980s, many paid for medical school with massive student loans. It is not a new issue.

These loans are now capped.
We are using what’s left in 529 for housing/tests/fees and paying tuition only with loan. Applying for financial aid, but most schools only offer after 1st year. Will do work study to offset tuition.

Even decades ago, there were caps on Federal student loans. It was not unusual for a medical student to also have some non-Federal loans in addition to Federal loans. Medical students who survive the first year (and most will survive) are a good credit risk.

Again, this is not a new problem.

It’s not a new problem but the loan caps have made it way worse in the last year exacerbated by tuition costs rising above where they were decades ago. We are looking at private schools with a cost of attendance over $100k and loan caps at $50k.
Obviously going to a public in state medical school is fiscally smarter (though we know a lot kids without a choice of medical schools who will go wherever they get in).

There have been caps all along. The caps are higher now than 20 years ago. I am very sorry it is not working well for you, but essentially the same situation existed 50 years ago, 40 years ago, 30 years ago, 20 years, and 10 years ago.

You’re not following along with costs and the new bill. We are at a point where attendance costs will significantly exceed the federal loan caps. You can say it’s always been this way, but the reality is it has changed recently.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12658764/#:~:text=Results,medical%20school%20(Figure%20C).

There have been caps for at least 50 years. Even 10 years ago many had to take out private loans because of Federal caps. The latest tweak really has not changed the fundamental issue.

I’m sorry if you think tuition hasn’t skyrocketed. You were just provided with a link that says differently.
I agree with the OP - it’s a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Target NYU and lock in on getting admitted. It’s tuition free.

My nephew attended this program. He got in because he attended an Ivy League university and his parents sent him to boarding school before that.

It’s frankly flippant for you or other folks to write NYU or Kaiser Med School when they are harder to get into than Harvard College.

I come from a large family. Another cousin went back to the Old country to attend his mom’s medical school right after high school and then came back and is in no debt. It may be cheaper and faster but boy was it tough to be in another country and in a difficult program. The other cousin that accompanied him did not make it and embarrassed about not being a doctor and not having an American degree.

Then another set of cousins went to the Carribbean. One cousin who is 38 and has been practicing Medina for a while told me he still has $400k of loans to pay off. His sister do not clear the USMLEs when she got back and is working at a small bank and has $600k in loans to pay off.

In my family medicine has been the ticket to the upper middle class and upper class but not everybody makes it. This is why I think it’s better to pursue other healthcare fields such as nursing.

[Anonymous]

Sorry for the typos. The heat is getting to me.

[Anonymous]

Rich people are too lazy and corrupted to want to go to med school. Poor people are to poor to afford it. We dont have healthcare or education funding or planning that is not corrupted because we are a country in decline due to corrupted winner take all above the law corruption.

[Anonymous]

This is why our country is dependent on foreign medical students. On the flipside, those countries are investing heavily at their brightest students to only lose them to us. I doubt the remittances are truly worth it.

[Anonymous]

So we scam our own people out in a debt scam, we have so poor education system also they no one can afford undergrad let alone med school. Then we get graduates who went to college free in first world countries.

Then our leaders sht talk our America's good students and workers as trying to get sumthin for nuthin greedy scum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the 1980s, many paid for medical school with massive student loans. It is not a new issue.

These loans are now capped.
We are using what’s left in 529 for housing/tests/fees and paying tuition only with loan. Applying for financial aid, but most schools only offer after 1st year. Will do work study to offset tuition.

Even decades ago, there were caps on Federal student loans. It was not unusual for a medical student to also have some non-Federal loans in addition to Federal loans. Medical students who survive the first year (and most will survive) are a good credit risk.

Again, this is not a new problem.

It’s not a new problem but the loan caps have made it way worse in the last year exacerbated by tuition costs rising above where they were decades ago. We are looking at private schools with a cost of attendance over $100k and loan caps at $50k.
Obviously going to a public in state medical school is fiscally smarter (though we know a lot kids without a choice of medical schools who will go wherever they get in).

There have been caps all along. The caps are higher now than 20 years ago. I am very sorry it is not working well for you, but essentially the same situation existed 50 years ago, 40 years ago, 30 years ago, 20 years, and 10 years ago.

You’re not following along with costs and the new bill. We are at a point where attendance costs will significantly exceed the federal loan caps. You can say it’s always been this way, but the reality is it has changed recently.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12658764/#:~:text=Results,medical%20school%20(Figure%20C).

There have been caps for at least 50 years. Even 10 years ago many had to take out private loans because of Federal caps. The latest tweak really has not changed the fundamental issue.

For grad plus loans, you could borrow up to the total cost of attendance, which includes living expenses. How do you not know this?