How do middle class kids afford med school?

[Anonymous]

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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?

Tuition $70,000 and housing $20,000 (that’s low, doesn’t allow for food etc) =$90,000 a yr and that’s considered low. Anyway, x4 yrs and that’s $360,000 which is $110,000 over the cap. If one takes regular loans, they are due the month after loan starts. How can one pay the regular loan while in med school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Tuition $70,000 and housing $20,000 (that’s low, doesn’t allow for food etc) =$90,000 a yr and that’s considered low. Anyway, x4 yrs and that’s $360,000 which is $110,000 over the cap. If one takes regular loans, they are due the month after loan starts. How can one pay the regular loan while in med school?

There was no cap until this year. Do you know how many lawyers graduated with 300k in Grad Plus Loans??

[Anonymous]

The only way we are affording it is intentionally choosing undergrad that gave the most scholarships, work study, working as RA to get reduced housing, etc to make amount due as low as possible. This allowed 529 to cover housing and 1/3 of med school tuition. The other 2/3 borrowed from family, tax free gift if paid directly. If family flakes out, then can take stafford loans. It won’t reach cap because it’s only 2/3. But it’s really close to cap.
Other option is to go into family medicine or peds or internal medicine, there are several schools that give free or reduced tuition if you agree to serve rural population for a number of years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only way we are affording it is intentionally choosing undergrad that gave the most scholarships, work study, working as RA to get reduced housing, etc to make amount due as low as possible. This allowed 529 to cover housing and 1/3 of med school tuition. The other 2/3 borrowed from family, tax free gift if paid directly. If family flakes out, then can take stafford loans. It won’t reach cap because it’s only 2/3. But it’s really close to cap.
Other option is to go into family medicine or peds or internal medicine, there are several schools that give free or reduced tuition if you agree to serve rural population for a number of years.

Really? Ask your family for tax free loans for your adult kid's medical school? I don't think I can allow myself to ask.

[Anonymous]

America doesn't need doctors because Americans don't need healthcare. We have superior fast food induced epigenetic health. We don't need education either because we are already the smartest people in the world. Come to think of it we don't really need food or shelter either because we are just such super humans.

[Anonymous]

Join the military to have the US govt pay for your med school.

[Anonymous]

You can also have your medical school loans waived if you go and work in Salisbury for several years. (Poor underserved area.) All of the gyn/obstetricians in Salisbury are on this program. Otherwise there would be no one to deliver babies on the lower Eastern Shore.

[Anonymous]

You mean the poor redneck deplorable Eastern Shore magas have some sort of socialism. Ironic.

[Anonymous]

https://sjsm.org/admissions/scholarships/dr-jay-k-pandit-memorial-scholarship/

https://www.mua.edu/academics/programs/5-year-md-program

https://www.mua.edu/admissions/mua-scholarships

https://medical.rossu.edu/admissions/scholarships

https://www.aucmed.edu/admissions/scholarships#summit

https://avalonu.org/financials/scholarships/

How low can you go? It's like Russian roulette where the more you can pay, the fewer bullets there are.

Jokes aside, I wonder if we'll start to see more med students going to places like these for the price.

[Anonymous]

We have a great business model of having to beg for money. It's the American way.