Financial impact of COVID on DO programs

[mel0099]

Recently I’ve been reading some articles about the financial impact that COVID has had on colleges and universities. Many universities have had to cut spending and lay off faculty and staff due to decreased retention rates, decreased tuition revenue, etc. I know that several osteopathic programs are affiliated with smaller private universities located in rural areas, and it is predicted that some smaller colleges and universities might be required to close or merge in the future due to financial hardships caused by COVID. I know very little about the business aspect of higher education institutions (and please correct me if I’m wrong) but I was wondering, as a current DO applicant, is this something that applicants should be worried about when deciding what schools to look at?

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[Goro]

It shouldn't be an issue because unlike MD schools, with those pesky LCME requirements for research and all that, DO schools work on a much leaner budget and can turn a profit on tuition only.

However, the parent organization can be in financial trouble, and thus will suck up more of the COM's tuition money, leaving less room for the COM to do things it wants to do.

Lastly, it's a seller's market for med schools, so there won't be any shortage of applicants. In fact, this year, more people are applying, as usually happens in times of financial trouble.

 

[mel0099]

It shouldn't be an issue because unlike MD schools, with those pesky LCME requirements for research and all that, DO schools work on a much leaner budget and can turn a profit on tuition only.

However, the parent organization can be in financial trouble, and thus will suck up more of the COM's tuition money, leaving less room for the COM to do things it wants to do.

Lastly, it's a seller's market for med schools, so there won't be any shortage of applicants. In fact, this year, more people are applying, as usually happens in times of financial trouble.

Thanks for the response! I guess my question was how about much of an impact a drowning parent institution could have on the COM and on the individual medical student, so this is helpful to keep in mind. I wouldn't want to enroll in a program that's at risk for shutting it's doors.

Also I didn't know that there would be more applicants applying this year, I assumed it would be the opposite

 

[Goro]

Thanks for the response! I guess my question was how about much of an impact a drowning parent institution could have on the COM and on the individual medical student, so this is helpful to keep in mind. I wouldn't want to enroll in a program that's at risk for shutting it's doors.

Also I didn't know that there would be more applicants applying this year, I assumed it would be the opposite

In a worst case scenario, I imagine that the parent body would sell the med school to a willing buyer, meaning a university that would love to have a cash cow like a med school.

Failing that, the parent body would shut down programs, and the med school would carry on.