COA vs. Average Indebtedness Discrepancy

[confusedhokie]

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With 9 days left to make a decision on where we choose to get our medical education, I have not received any financial aid information from either of the two schools I am considering. One is private with a COA of $314,000 and the other is public with a COA of $248,000. I've been told to just pick a school and not expect any FA contribution other than loans. However, the average indebtedness reported by multiple sources is nearly the same for both public and private institutions: $167,000. I come from a very low income family, so my question is how can there be such an enormous differences in the COA and the average indebtedness if I have been told time and time again not to expect anything other than loans because that is usually all students receive? I'm on the verge of feeling like I cannot even attend school anymore because of the daunting COA and only loans to finance it.

 

[packersfans]

I'd say if they haven't gave you a financial aid package yet its not coming til much later and they aren't planning on throwing much in terms of scholarship or grants. I spoke with a schools FA office this morning who said they werent planning to send out til June.

That said, I'm surprised you weren't offered something considering being very low income. The reasons for the discrepancy between COA and average indebtedness is because those from very high income families may be having their family pick up the tab (therefore $0 or lower debt). On the flipside those from very low income families can get institutional aid (therefore lower debt, probably still not $0).

I'd like to say you dont need to worry about the large COA but it is something to consider. Conversely it is definitely not a reason to consider not pursuing your medical education. I still believe it is a worthwhile investment, and if you are that concerned there are a host of programs out there that can pick up the tab with some form of commitment.

Hope that helps!

Edit: oh and also another factor for the COA vs average debt. alot of schools were presenting data from several year ago. some of the FA presentations I saw at interviews were 2010 or 2011 debt data. med school cost has gone up quite a bit in that time (some FA officers even acknowledged this despite presenting old data, which i found odd.)

 

[resiroth]

Medical school does indeed cost more, but I would say ~20% have parents that can pay for it completely, a huge chunk have parents that pay for cost of living, there are MDPhD people dragging it down, and there are also people that are doing the military option and have 0 debt. I always say schools should have to report quartiles of debt, or maybe 10/50/90 like they do with MCAT. As it stands now it's a dirty little secret of the medical world. If anything it should help garner slightly more sympathy from all those articles written about how much neurosurgeons make.

 

[LizzyM]

COA is the maximum you can borrow. Not everyone borrows the maximum either because their family picks up part of the cost and/or they economize and don't spend the maximum on living expenses (roommates, cook low cost meals, avoid restaurant meals, economize with transportation, etc) , or they have other funding such as military funding. You really should pressure schools to give you an idea of your financial aid package before you pull the trigger and pick one.