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 matters to you in your college or grad school search.
The cost of medical education is enormous, so much so that even students at public medical schools can expect to accrue significant debt unless they win generous merit-based scholarships or receive a large amount of need-based financial aid.
In 2020, graduates of public medical schools who had education debt owed a median amount of $200,000, according to statistics published by the Association of American Medical Colleges, or AAMC. Meanwhile, among graduates of private medical schools, the median education debt was even higher: $220,000.
[Read: How to Attend Medical School for Free.]
Future doctors can minimize the cost of their training by attending a public medical school where they qualify for discounts on tuition and fees based on their place of residence. Medical schools at public universities, which are generally subsidized by local tax money, usually offer bargains to in-state students.
Among the 74 ranked public medical schools that reported in-state tuition and fees for the 2020-2021 academic year to U.S. News in an annual survey, the average cost was $37,387.
Meanwhile, at the 10 most affordable ranked public medical schools for in-state students, the average price was roughly $15,000 less: $22,232.
[See: 10 Costs to Expect When Applying to Medical School.]
The University of New Mexico School of Medicine tops this list, as it charged in-state students $18,559 during the 2020-2021 school year. To get a sense of how low this cost is, consider the fact that 41 ranked public medical schools set prices that are at least double that amount.
In fact, in-state students at the most expensive ranked public medical school — the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine — paid roughly three times as much: $58,640.
Six of the 10 most affordable public medical schools for in-state students are based in Texas. Two are located in West Virginia, one in New Mexico and one in North Carolina.
Only one school on this list — the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center — placed in the top 50 in both the Best Medical Schools for Research and Best Medical Schools for Primary Care rankings.
Below is a list of the 10 public medical schools that charged the lowest in-state tuition and fees during the 2020-2021 school year. 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) | In-state tuition and fees (2020-2021) | U.S. News research rank | U.S. News primary care rank |
| University of New Mexico | $18,559 | 81 (tie) | 28 (tie) |
| University of North Texas Health Science Center | $20,262 | 93-123 | 57 |
| Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center | $20,486 | 93-123 | 69 (tie) |
| Texas A&M University | $20,720 | 75 (tie) | 84 (tie) |
| University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center | $21,833 | 26 | 32 (tie) |
| University of Texas Health Science Center–San Antonio | $21,859 | 52 | 46 (tie) |
| West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine | $22,672 | 93-123 | 93-123 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center–Houston (McGovern) | $24,744 | 53 | 84 (tie) |
| Marshall University (Edwards) (WV) | $25,326 | 93-123 | 93-123 |
| East Carolina University (Brody) (NC) | $25,860 | 93-123 | 28 (tie) |
Don’t see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News Medical School Compass to find tuition and fees statistics, 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 191 medical schools for our 2020 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 comes 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 is correct as of April 6, 2021.
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10 Public Medical Schools With the Lowest In-State Tuition and Fees originally appeared on usnews.com
