Estimated Costs of Veterinary School

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I got it the third time, but I'll PM you my email anyway, in case whatever it was happens again. Thanks for the multiple tries!

Sorry for the late reply but I've been gone. NC State allows applying for reclassification to instate after first year. About 99% of those who apply get it. It makes a huge difference in the cost.

Great, I'll check with admissions for something I can use as a reference and make the change.

This will be easier to keep current than what Alliecat44 had to do with the previous updates:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...nc&output=html

And here's the Estimated Cost of Attendance chart:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...Wc&output=html

Why is PEI resident COA that high? Just curious because that is my future

Originally Posted by CarpeDiem89

Here is a quick question.... in my vet orientation at MIZZOU they said the average debt of the class of 2011 was 110,000...So the projected debt for our class of 2015 is something like 166,000? I am sorry but that just can not be right.

Please also note that Mizzou gave you the average DEBT, while these charts show the average COST. Believe it or not, there ARE students that somehow get through vet school with little or no debt, so that would bring down Mizzou's figure.

I do agree that it's fairly easy to live on much less than $18,000/year in the midwest.

Wow, I completely missed that distinction when I tried to answer. Sorry, CarpeDiem89! And thanks to dvmsara for catching and clarifying.
I thought the $18,000 was high for the midwest too- I didn't know if maybe it was because it was in a major urban area? IDK? Don't remember how Missouri generated their COL estimate.
I have found that the model each school uses to calculate the cost of living estimate varies wildly. Some surveyed students, some used local chamber of commerce data, some used federal data... I woul dhave thought that the US DOE would require a standard method. Insert a shrug and a quizzical look here; I'm too old to figure out how to do it with an emoticon!

I would like to see a database developed that would calculate current COL generated locally by allowing students to submit their actual costs as they incur them- like a form on the web that had a place for school, grad year, then categories like food, rent, travel, utilities, personal.

As far as the PEI resident COA- I took it from the UPEI Student Handbook p17
http://www.upei.ca/avc/files/avc/ish.pdf

Other expenses:
Books and supplies: $1,000. - $1,500./semester or $2,000.-$3,000./academic year **
Housing: $300. - $900/month or $3,600.-$10,800./academic year †
Food: $300. - $400./month or $3,600.-$4,800./academic year
Miscellaneous expenses: $150. - $200./month or $1,350.-$1,800./academic year

So adding up the low end I get $10,550 per academic year *4 yrs= $42,200 plus tuition of $51,290 = $93,490 increased at 5% per year= $108,226. Using the high end I get $20,400 per academic year * 4yrs =$81,600 plus tuition of $51,290=$131,890 increased at 5% per year=$152,679. I sort of split the difference and used $16,800 per year.
Clear as mud? DId I miss something?

Ky, those are the figures that UPEI quotes, but now that I've been here for a month, I think they overestimate. I eat quite well on about $200/month. Their housing estimate is about right, given that it's such a wide range. Their "books and supplies" is way out. I haven't spent anywhere NEAR $1000 this semester. I bought 4 books, totalling about $300, plus a few pairs of second-hand scrubs for about $20, coveralls for $35 and a pair of steel toe waterproof boots for $20 (major discount).

Thanks! I thought that estimate seemed a bit high. I know a vet who graduated in 2010 and she spent about $120,000 but that included 2 trips to Europe and several cross-country trips. I guess it is better to overestimate and pay less than underestimate and have a nasty surprise at the end.

All this chart did was confuse me. Does cost of attendance include tuition?
I refuse to believe that it could cost up to $150 000 to attend PEI and $165 000 to attend SGU. For an extra $15 000, why are people using money as an excuse for me not to go to the Caribbean? Something has got to be wrong somewhere.

http://www.sgu.edu/school-of-veterin...y-program.html

Tuition(without the 5% increase): $139 710
Books: $8464
Room & Board: $61 026

The non-resident tuition seems correct.
But the cost of attendance (which I am assuming to be living expenses or living expenses + tuition) is waaaay off. It's $61 000 to live there and $210 000 to live there and pay tuition. So how are you getting the $165 000 cost of attendance?

Mind=boggled. Someone help me clear it up.

I saw St. George COA= $252,883...maybe you were looking at the wrong document?

Originally Posted by Trematode

I refuse to believe that it could cost up to $150 000 to attend PEI and $165 000 to attend SGU..

Where is the $165,000 figure coming from? Are you looking at the original documents at the beginning of the thread, because there were some errors with that one. The table lists on Google docs a few posts up is corrected and up to date and lists tuition at SGU at $129,513 and COA at $252,883.

Originally Posted by Coquette22

Where is the $165,000 figure coming from? Are you looking at the original documents at the beginning of the thread, because there were some errors with that one. The table lists on Google docs a few posts up is corrected and up to date and lists tuition at SGU at $129,513 and COA at $252,883.

I was looking at post #33 (which is what one of the original posts was leading me to). Wasn't aware that there was a different one on top of that.
And now I see that justavet posted another one. Oy. I skipped through all of the debating and must have missed it.

Total cost of attendance:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...Wc&output=html
Tuition only
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...nc&output=html

This is some really great information! Thank-you all for posting!

Thank you for using it! Makes the effort to put it together worth it.
I enjoyed putting this together, and I like that it helps
If there's other information- whatever would make it easier and more efficient to figure out whether, when and where to go to vet school- let me know. Some other people have some tools in the pipeline- IBR info, debt calculator/decision modeling tool, visual display of the cost info listed in this thread- that I hope will show up on SDN eventually.

How 'bout a map of what contract seats are available at all the schools- would that be useful, or is everybody happy with the chart?

I'm wondering how the tuition numbers for Calgary and Saskatoon were calculated. Right now, the tuition for Saskatoon is $7174. Even following the (extremely generous) assumption that the tuition is increased by 7% each year compounded on top of the last year, tuition is $31852. Calgary's tuition is currently $10600. Following the same assumption of 7% compounded increase in tuition, the tuition is $47072. I think maybe when you were calculating, you saw $5300 on the website, but that figure is actually per semester, not per year.

Hmmm. OK-
Saskatoon tuition is $7174 CN per year; it comes to $7905 annually with fees. At 7% increase per year that totals $35098 over 4 yrs.
At Calgary, if tuition is $5301 and fees are $503 per semester that comes to $11,610 per year; at 7% a year f four years that totals $51548 over 4 years.
More along the lines of what you were thinking?

Here are the pages I am pulling from:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/pubs/calendar...FEES_CHART.pdf
http://students.usask.ca/current/paying/tuition.php

Any chance we can add Dublin or any UK schools to this doc??

Originally Posted by justavet

Hmmm. OK-
Saskatoon tuition is $7174 CN per year; it comes to $7905 annually with fees. At 7% increase per year that totals $35098 over 4 yrs.
At Calgary, if tuition is $5301 and fees are $503 per semester that comes to $11,610 per year; at 7% a year f four years that totals $51548 over 4 years.
More along the lines of what you were thinking?

Yeah, I didn't know fees were also included with the tuition. I think an earlier version had Calgary's tuition as much cheaper.

jemappelejane- working on that

Braki- yeah, previous versions' Calgary figures were based on the $5301 being for the year, when that's just a semester. I fixed it- thanks for catching that!

Originally Posted by justavet

jemappelejane- working on that

Braki- yeah, previous versions' Calgary figures were based on the $5301 being for the year, when that's just a semester. I fixed it- thanks for catching that!

Great! Thanks for all of your hard work. I'm interested in Dublin, personally.

jemappellejane,
UCD tuition 28,200 euros per year
http://www.ucd.ie/registry/adminserv...aduate2011.htm

Originally Posted by justavet

jemappellejane,
UCD tuition 28,200 euros per year
http://www.ucd.ie/registry/adminserv...aduate2011.htm

thanks, justavet
that transfers to around 50,000 US, i think? whew! expensive!

nauseated by the cost of veterinary school? I know it is expensive but is it even practical? Its making me question going afterit....I'mnot sure what everyone else's financial situation is but I graduated from undergrad with about 17k in debt, to go another 200+ in debt is daunting...and I'm starting to think maybe I should just look into an accelerated nursing program....please tell me I'm not alone in feeling so completely hopeless and lost in allof this...its so scary...

Originally Posted by lolobend86

nauseated by the cost of veterinary school? I know it is expensive but is it even practical? Its making me question going afterit....I'mnot sure what everyone else's financial situation is but I graduated from undergrad with about 17k in debt, to go another 200+ in debt is daunting...and I'm starting to think maybe I should just look into an accelerated nursing program....please tell me I'm not alone in feeling so completely hopeless and lost in allof this...its so scary...

The cost is prohibitive for sure. I think the best piece of advice I've been given is to go to school as least expensively as possible. I've been told time and time again that it really doesn't matter what school you go to (as long as it's accredited) and that there's no reason to go to the most expensive one. So apply to your instate and contract schools (if you have either, I don't) and if you don't get in first round, move to the state of the school you want to go to, gain residency and apply again. I think what makes it especially hard is the lack of compensation for the amount of debt vets go into for schooling. I think vet school debt can be doable, but only if you're prepared for it and you make the best possible decisions going in.

Been working on this for a while. It's a set of googledoc spreadsheets showing tuition histories for all the US CVMs. I have split it out into resident and non-resident, and played around with some comparisons. For those not familiar with googledocs, there are tabs across the bottom, one for each spreadsheet. I tried to name them intuitively but I'm sure it will still need some clarification- sorry!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...mE4N2ExVmNlSXc

Some nuts and bolts: I am happy to share source info for all the data in here; right now it's messy but I'll work on getting it publicly presentable. There's lots more data available but I only wanted to include data I could independently corroborate from more than one source, one of which had to be primary and/or official. I'm not in any way a trained professional so if anyone out there knows how to do this better jump in, have at, let's go!
Feel free to copy and use all you want. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure you get info back to me if you have something to add or if something is wrong!!! I don't care to post a contact email so people other than SDNers can get me, just wasn't sure if that violated some kind of rule since this is an anonymous forum.

Because of this data I have revised the annual tuition increase percentage in the tuition cost spreadsheet from 7 to 7.64. Ouch.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...nc&output=html

Feedback?

Oh, the debt and starting salary references/graphs on there are from the annual survey of US CVM seniors conducted by the AVMA every year. I have that data close to being ready, too- there's a lot of it. As a data set it has some really serious limitations. Working on finding better.

Um, wow Thanks for all this, justavet. I'm sure this all took a lot of time and patience with spreadsheets that I sure don't have, so I'm really grateful you put this data all together. Really interesting to look over (as long as I don't think too much about how high these numbers get by the time I start vet school...!).

Googledocs made it pretty easy. Add in generous quantities of my favorite adult beverages and well, the time just flew. lol!
Knowing how high the numbers get is the unfortunately useful part since for some of us it's several years before we get in.
The totals don't take interest into account, either, if you are borrowing any/all of the money. It's just hard costs with inflation built in.

justavet- is it correct that the COA for SGU is cheaper than IS Penn??

are you sure NC state is only $83398 cumulatively, i thought it was close to 40,000 per year for out of staters, just curious
this is helpful though

Originally Posted by rubygirl

are you sure NC state is only $83398 cumulatively, i thought it was close to 40,000 per year for out of staters, just curious
this is helpful though

You can get IS at NCSU after the first year.

I'm assuming this is a dumb question seeing as how you are all talking about the ~%7 increase yearly...but are you not locked in to a tuition cost your first year? I'm not even sure if that is standard for all undergrad schools, I just know that I was locked in to the tuition cost of my school when I started undergrad for 4 years, so I never had to pay more even though tuition has gone up over %30 since I started.

Originally Posted by Rocky922

I'm assuming this is a dumb question seeing as how you are all talking about the ~%7 increase yearly...but are you not locked in to a tuition cost your first year? I'm not even sure if that is standard for all undergrad schools, I just know that I was locked in to the tuition cost of my school when I started undergrad for 4 years, so I never had to pay more even though tuition has gone up over %30 since I started.

It's definitely not standard for all undergrads. While I can think of one off-hand that does do this (and one that used to lock in the rate if you paid all four years at once...hahaha), I'm pretty sure that the vast majority don't. My guess is also that schools that do this tend to have larger jumps year-to-year in tuition than those that don't because not everyone is paying the higher rate, so they need to make up for it, even though you pay the same every year.

Anyway, no, AFAIK, no vet schools do this. I'd imagine it's rather unheard of at state schools because state funding is going to fluctuate unlike how funding works at private schools, though I'm basing this on nothing factual.

Originally Posted by kakurubird

It's definitely not standard for all undergrads. While I can think of one off-hand that does do this (and one that used to lock in the rate if you paid all four years at once...hahaha), I'm pretty sure that the vast majority don't. My guess is also that schools that do this tend to have larger jumps year-to-year in tuition than those that don't because not everyone is paying the higher rate, so they need to make up for it, even though you pay the same every year.

Anyway, no, AFAIK, no vet schools do this. I'd imagine it's rather unheard of at state schools because state funding is going to fluctuate unlike how funding works at private schools, though I'm basing this on nothing factual.

UK vet schools lock in the tuition rate for 4 years. And if you pay all 4 years at once, you can obviously lock in the exchange rate.

Oh, and fyi the estimated COA for UPenn according to my interview packet is $259,392 not $280,000 for the class of 2015 (and this number is extremely generous; I will have a studio in a nice part of the city for less than that).

jemappellejane- Yup

rubygirl- Nstarz is correct, and that explains the lower than expected cost. The other three schools that allow reclassification from non-resident to resident after your first year are UCDavis, OSU, and Missouri.

Rocky922- like kakurubird, to my knowledge no US vet school locks in tuition at your first year's rate. I know from putting together tuition histories that several schools have done so in the past when they increased tuitions- made getting the increase approved more palatable. Basically anyone admitted after the date the increase was approved paid the new rate but anyone already on school finished at whatever rate they already were paying. In schools with stepped increases, ie a set amount every year for x years, it made accounting very complex.

SnowyRox- good to know about the UK schools. I'll document that and include it in the EU/AU list I'm pulling together. And I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a copy of that lit from your interview packet. Nice to know where that number came from; I suspect at some schools the people who are talking to students are not the same people who are talking to IPEDS are not the same people talking to AVMA are not the same people talking to state legislature...

Originally Posted by justavet

jemappellejane- Yup

rubygirl- Nstarz is correct, and that explains the lower than expected cost. The other three schools that allow reclassification from non-resident to resident after your first year are UCDavis, OSU, and Missouri.

Rocky922- like kakurubird, to my knowledge no US vet school locks in tuition at your first year's rate. I know from putting together tuition histories that several schools have done so in the past when they increased tuitions- made getting the increase approved more palatable. Basically anyone admitted after the date the increase was approved paid the new rate but anyone already on school finished at whatever rate they already were paying. In schools with stepped increases, ie a set amount every year for x years, it made accounting very complex.

SnowyRox- good to know about the UK schools. I'll document that and include it in the EU/AU list I'm pulling together. And I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a copy of that lit from your interview packet. Nice to know where that number came from; I suspect at some schools the people who are talking to students are not the same people who are talking to IPEDS are not the same people talking to AVMA are not the same people talking to state legislature...

Justavet--do the calculations for UCDavis, Mizzou, and OSU include the ability to gain IS tuition after the first year? My calculations put OSU's total COA at $223k...

Resident or non-resident, NStarz? Yes, the figures for all four schools reflect instate residency after the first year.

Originally Posted by justavet

Resident or non-resident, NStarz? Yes, the figures for all four schools reflect instate residency after the first year.

OOS. This is all crazy complicated.

Can you show me how you came up with $223k? Maybe then we can find where we diverge. I may need to change something. Thanks!

Are these COA estimates all based on the same variables? For example, the UC-Davis breakdown from their site includes about $15K for food costs and also includes the summer between 3rd and 4th year in their calculations. The Colorado State site as I understand it does not. These are pretty substantial disparities, no?

I noticed that you have CSU's 2012 IS tuition at 21764 but it is actually 23498 (unfortunately). Awesome work by the way. It is really nice to see all of this information together like this.

Originally Posted by August West

Are these COA estimates all based on the same variables? For example, the UC-Davis breakdown from their site includes about $15K for food costs and also includes the summer between 3rd and 4th year in their calculations. The Colorado State site as I understand it does not. These are pretty substantial disparities, no?

I think it's important to remember that COA is there for the school to figure out based on guidelines set by congress (or so I've been told) a rough estimate of the MAX amount of money that is reasonable for a student to take out in loans to attend school. It just takes in account the tuition/fees, reasonable fees for books and supplies, health insurance, rent, food, transportation, etc... all adjusted for the regional cost of living. What the COA means for you is the max amount of federal loans you can take out to pay for EVERYTHING. So it doesn't matter if it appropriates money for food in one school and not the other. If Davis has $15k calculated for food but CSU doesn't, it doesn't mean you'll have to scounge up an extra $15k to attend CSU or starve. The only major difference is that Davis calculates based on 10 months of school, so you're technically responsible for finding funding for the two months summer vacation. For CSU, it's calculated on 9 months of school, so you're technically responsible for funding 3 months of summer. Depends on the person if this makes either one more affordable or not (for most it won't make much of a difference). If you're someone who's going to earn a ton of money during the summer, the longer the break the better. If you're someone who spends net money over the summer, then not so much. As for the summer between third and 4th year, unless something's changed, my understanding is that the tuition you pay is based on the number of credits you elect to take. I'm not sure exactly how it works though, so if that's going to make a difference to you, then contact the school and find out. So unless I'm mistaken, there isn't exactly a set tuition per se.

So the COA not there for the school to tell you exactly how much you'll be spending, or to make an accurate comparison of your personal COA between different schools. It's not supposed to be there for a literal comparison between schools. The only thing that is for sure on there is your tuition and fees! The amount you'll pay for everything else in your life will depend on how thrifty you are. For example, if you decide to do a house share in Ft Collins, you can find places where you'll spend less than $500/month including all utilities. But if you get a 1 br in a managed apt and have to pay all utilities yourself, it might be double that. Big difference. Same thing between people who have cars (and buy parking permits) and those who don't. People who need to buy expensive plane tix to go home for the holidays vs. those who don't. People who need to move from far away and either need to move a ton of furniture/buy new ones, and those who don't. People who eat out/go out drinking a lot, and those who don't. People who buy all textbooks required/suggested brand new, and those who do without, or buy old editions on half.com. Buying or not buying a new computer can make a difference too depending on what kind you get. So yeah, because of that, even asking current students what their budgets are won't be all that helpful because your spending pattern and financial circumstance probably won't be the same.

So bottom line being that if you're not willing to take the rough COA estimates listed on the website as enough info to make a financial decision on which school to attend, you'll have to spend the time and energy to research that for yourself. You can get concrete costs for things like health insurance from the school if you're going to go to use school insurance. Unless you really want to expend the energy to ask students exactly what supplies/books you need for school, you may want to just use what they've listed on the COA chart though because that would be a huge pain in the a** to figure out. The school's already taken into consideration what things you need, including computer specifications and supplies particular to the courses you'll be taking. That, and how thrifty you'll be on textbooks won't change all that much between schools. You can peruse rental websites and craigslist to get an idea of how much you'll spend on rent for the type of living situation you want. Food and utilities and other stuff that will vary in cost between locations, you can look at your current budget and put that into a regional cost of living comparison calculator online and get a rough estimate. If you go this route though, you'll have to remember that your estimate is going to depend entirely on your thoughfulness and understanding of personal finances. If you do it well, you'll get a pretty good comparison on your actual COA for whatever school you want to consider to make an informed decision. If you don't do it well... well then, you might as well just use the COA estimate on the website...

Originally Posted by Minnerbelle

If Davis has $15k calculated for food but CSU doesn't, it doesn't mean you'll have to scounge up an extra $15k to attend CSU or starve.

Why is this not the case? Where does the projected money for food get factored into the COA for students who attend CSU?

And thank you for the thorough response. Very helpful for me and those of us trying to make decisions about where to attend. I'm still bewildered that the COA for an CA resident attending Davis is so close to what the same student will need to attend CSU as a non-resident, despite the large disparity in tuition. Could cost-of-living differences alone be that dramatic?? Makes my head spin...

Originally Posted by August West

Why is this not the case? Where does the projected money for food get factored into the COA for students who attend CSU?

Room and Board (living costs).

Food is indeed essential for living .

Originally Posted by Minnerbelle

Room and Board (living costs).

Food is indeed essential for living .

So CSU is projecting that it will cost $8,622 for all living expenses including rent, food, utilities, etc? Is that even remotely possible? Davis has estimates at over twice that amount...

Originally Posted by August West

So CSU is projecting that it will cost $8,622 for all living expenses including rent, food, utilities, etc? Is that even remotely possible? Davis has estimates at over twice that amount...

Like I said... the $8622 + $1692 (miscellaneous & personal) is what's projected to cover ALL of your non-school/non-health insurance expenses.

But yeah... $8622 for 9 months leaves $958/month. If you search craigslist for a room/share in fort collins you'll see that most listings are between $300-400/month plus utilities. It's very doable to find housing for $500 or less including utilities. That leaves over $450 for other things. That's more than enough to cover food, groceries, and a lot of car costs. If you have a roommate, even luxury 2 br/2 bath apartments can easily be found for $450-600/person + utilities.

During my firstyear, I paid a flat rate of $475/month in rent including ALL utilities. At the same time I earned $400-600 a month with my part-time jobs. So I ended up not using up my loans from first-semester, and had enough left over that I didn't even take out any for second-semester to cover living costs. I eat out a lot too, and am not thrifty when it comes to groceries. I also didn't use up all of books/supplies budget on school supplies so I had an extra thousand dollars or so to work with.
(Disclaimer: I used my savings to move in and get settled. I also used my savings + bf charities to pay for all of my airfare to go back and forth from Boston and for my trip home to Japan. So my loans + job money only paid for my day-to-day living costs while at school).