The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or grad school search.
Pursuing a medical degree can lead to a rewarding career, but the cost of school can be a barrier for many prospective students — especially since it may mean borrowing a six-figure amount in student loans.
The majority of medical school graduates leave school with a significant amount of student debt. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, 75 percent of medical students who graduated in 2017 borrowed student loans to pay for school.
[Read: 10 Medical Schools With the Lowest Acceptance Rates.]
Last year, among U.S. medical school graduates who borrowed, those who attended a public institution had an average debt burden of nearly $170,000, according to data submitted to U.S. News by 52 ranked schools in an annual survey. The average debt was even higher among graduates of private medical schools who borrowed: slightly more than $180,000.
Prices vary widely when it comes to tuition and fees at private medical schools. Among ranked private schools in the 2019 Best Medical Schools Research and Primary Care rankings, the cost of tuition and fees for the 2017-2018 school year ranges from $32,823 at the Baylor College of Medicine to $66,257 at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
The vast majority of private medical schools that submitted data to U.S. News charged more than $50,000 in tuition and fees for the 2017-2018 school year.
[See: 10 Med Schools Where Grads Are Likely to Get Their First-Choice Residency.]
Below is a list of the 10 ranked private medical schools with the lowest tuition and fees in 2017-2018. Two of these schools offer discounts to in-state residents: the Baylor College of Medicine and the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. The costs given for the schools in this article are the out-of-state published prices.
Eight of the 10 private medical schools with the lowest tuition and fees ranked in the bottom one-fourth of the 2019 Best Medical Schools for Research. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
| School (name) (state) | Tuition and fees (2017-2018) | U.S. News research rank | U.S. News primary care rank |
| Baylor College of Medicine (TX) | $32,823 | 16 | 5 (tie) |
| Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (PA) | $33,700 | RNP* | 85 (tie) |
| William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MS) | $39,800 | RNP | RNP |
| University of Miami (Miller) | $43,592 | 50 (tie) | 79 (tie) |
| University of Pikeville (KY) | $44,265 | RNP | 85 (tie) |
| Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine–Virginia, Carolinas and Auburn | $44,700 | RNP | RNP |
| Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine | $45,500 | RNP | RNP |
| Howard University (DC) | $48,104 | RNP | RNP |
| Des Moines University (IA) | $48,499 | RNP | RNP |
| Lincoln Memorial University (DeBusk) (TN) | $48,850 | RNP | 93 (tie) |
* RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one-fourth of all rank-eligible medical and osteopathic schools. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.
Don’t see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News Medical School Compass to find tuition and fees data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed 177 medical schools for our 2017 survey of research and primary care programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Medical Schools rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News’ rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The tuition and fees data above are correct as of May 22, 2018.
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10 Least Expensive Private Medical Schools originally appeared on usnews.com
