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Despite the fact that public medical schools often provide hefty discounts on tuition and fees to local students, there are some schools where an overwhelming majority of applicants reside out of state.
Data published by the Association of American Medical Colleges, or AAMC, shows that there were many public medical schools where three-quarters or more of candidates for entry in 2020 weren’t state residents. This phenomenon reflects the competitiveness of med school admissions, which leads most aspiring doctors to submit applications to multiple schools.
[Read: 10 Public Medical Schools With the Lowest In-State Tuition and Fees.]
Because public medical schools are generally subsidized by state tax revenues, they typically charge lower prices to students who have a legal in-state address and set higher rates for out-of-state students. But applicants from out of state should investigate and compare costs, as some public schools offer bargains.
Among the 72 ranked public medical schools that reported out-of-state tuition and fees for the 2020-2021 school year to U.S. News in an annual survey, the average price was $60,504. That is roughly $20,000 higher than the average cost for out-of-state students at the 10 most affordable public schools during that same year, which was just $40,174.
McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center–Houston charged out-of-state students the least: $32,997. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the University of South Carolina School of Medicine set the highest price for out-of-state students, an amount that was more than twice as high as the cost at McGovern: $88,794.
[READ: How to Attend Medical School for Free.]
Six of the 10 public medical schools that offered the best deals to out-of-state students for the 2020-2021 school year are based in Texas. California, Florida, New Mexico and Tennessee are each home to one school on the list.
Three of these 10 affordable schools placed within the top 50 of the U.S. News Best Medical Schools for Research rankings, and four of the 10 ranked within the top 50 of the U.S. News Best Medical Schools for Primary Care.
Below is a list of the 10 public medical schools with the lowest out-of-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) | Out-of-state tuition and fees (2020-2021) | U.S. News research rank | U.S. News primary care rank |
| University of Texas Health Science Center–Houston (McGovern) | $32,997 | 53 | 84 (tie) |
| Texas A&M University | $33,820 | 75 (tie) | 84 (tie) |
| Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center | $33,986 | 93-123 | 69 (tie) |
| University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center | $34,933 | 26 | 32 (tie) |
| University of North Texas Health Science Center | $35,950 | 93-123 | 57 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center–San Antonio | $38,525 | 52 | 46 (tie) |
| East Tennessee State University (Quillen) | $44,829 | 93-123 | 64 (tie) |
| University of New Mexico | $47,254 | 81 (tie) | 28 (tie) |
| University of Florida | $48,913 | 36 (tie) | 51 (tie) |
| University of California–San Diego | $50,528 | 19 (tie) | 28 (tie) |
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 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 Aug. 24, 2021.
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10 Most Affordable Medical Schools for Out-of-State Students originally appeared on usnews.com
