Originally posted by wise146
Just a general question:
Is the cost of dental school getting to the point where the number of applicants are going to decline? It seems to me that the costs keep getting larger and larger---There has to be some breaking point, which might be near.
What are your thoughts?????????
Wise, first of all, IMHO, student applicants to programs are not based, in so much, as on tuition, as on the economy. They apply to whatever program will afford them the most riches based on current economic conditions. When the 80s were booming, most students applied to MBA programs, and the MD, DDS, applicants dropped. When the recession hit in the late 80s, the MBA applicants dropped, and the MD/DDS applicants increased. People want a job where they know their job is safe even if they wont become instant millionaires. In the 90s, when the dot com craze hit, as I'm sure you are aware, everyone and their grandma applied for IT programs and jumped on the bandwagon. Why wouldnt they? Companies were giving away BMW Z3s to attract young graduates; they were stealing MBAs, still in school, left and right to run any and every conceivable dot com and starting them off at 100K plus stock options.
Tuition will always increase, across the board, not just limited to dentistry, medicine, business, engineering, undergraduate, graduate, etc.
I believe US News' best graduate schools edition always talks about the number of applicants in each field and which is increasing, which is decreasing, as well as the costs of tution. Look into it.
