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Becoming a doctor can lead to a sizable paycheck, but the debt many aspiring medical professionals must take on to finance their education can be substantial.
For student borrowers who graduated from U.S. medical schools during the 2017-2018 academic year, the median amount of debt they took on to pay for med school was $195,000, according to an annual survey from the Association of American Medical Colleges. According to the survey data, 45.7 percent of respondents said part of their plan to tackle their debt load is to enter a loan forgiveness program, such as the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
[Read: What Medical Schools Are Doing to Reduce Student Debt.]
Among the 115 medical schools that reported average indebtedness data to U.S. News in an annual survey, 2016 graduates who borrowed for school averaged $174,299 in debt. That average figure jumps to $256,317 for the 10 schools where grads left with the heaviest debt burdens.
Graduates of the class of 2016 from the Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine at Nova Southeastern University in Florida had the highest average debt of any school that reported these data to U.S. News, at $274,947.
On the other end of the spectrum, 2016 graduates of the Stanford University School of Medicine in California who borrowed had the lowest average indebtedness: $96,327. Only one other medical school besides Stanford reported average debt for its graduates below $100,000. At the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, 2016 grads who borrowed left with $97,338 in debt, on average.
Six of the 10 institutions where 2016 med school graduates incurred the most debt are private schools, and they charged an average of $53,821 for 2017-2018 tuition.
[Read: 10 Least Expensive Private Medical Schools.]
The four public medical schools on the list, in comparison, charged an average of $35,722 for in-state tuition in 2017-2018 and $70,858 for out-of-state students.
Below is a list of the 10 medical schools where 2016 graduates who borrowed to complete their M.D. or D.O. had the highest average debt. 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 (2017-2018) | Average indebtedness (2016) | U.S. News research rank | U.S. News primary care rank |
| Nova Southeastern University (Patel) (FL) | $56,176 | $274,947 | RNP* | RNP |
| Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences (WA) | $53,000 | $274,917 | RNP | RNP |
| Michigan State University (College of Human Medicine) | In-state: $45,144; out-of-state: $87,162 | $270,397 | 89 (tie) | 61 (tie) |
| Western University of Health Sciences (CA) | $56,250 | $262,585 | RNP | RNP |
| Lincoln Memorial University (DeBusk) (TN) | $48,650 | $261,268 | RNP | 93 |
| New York Medical College | $52,720 | $248,000 | RNP | RNP |
| Michigan State University (College of Osteopathic Medicine) | In-state: $45,074; out-of-state: $87,177 | $246,668 | RNP | 79 |
| Eastern Virginia Medical School | In-state: $31,196; out-of-state: $56,382 | $245,739 | 89 (tie) | 53 (tie) |
| West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine | In-state: $21,472; out-of-state: $52,710 | $244,670 | RNP | 93 |
| Drexel University (PA) | $56,128 | $233,982 | 85 | RNP |
* 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 debt and tuition 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 debt and tuition data above are correct as of Aug. 21, 2018.
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10 Medical Schools Where Students Leave With the Most Debt originally appeared on usnews.com
