Interesting Article from the late 80's

[Surive123]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I was over at DentalTown and was looking at some websites of some of the posters and I stumbled across someone saying they graduated from Georgetown University Dental School.

Did a quick google search and found this: http://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/29/u...ollment-dental-schools-close-or-cut-back.html

Found it particularly interesting. Had no idea Emory had a dental school either - and a big lol at:

Tuition that tops $15,000 a year at some private dental schools discourages many applicants, as does the fact that the average private dental school graduate has educational debts of $51,000.

but then I saw this:

Dr. Kiser says that dentists' average income, too, has been rising steadily, to $69,980 in 1985, the last year for which figures are available.

😱

Interesting to compare that to our 85-115k starting and 200-500k in possible debt. :O

Super Quick Cliffs:
- Explaining why schools cut down on admissions in the 80's - parallels some concerns we have today
- Interesting to read the perspective back then and the perceived trends and how things have/haven't changed

 

[LogOff]

Are you trying to say we're better off now?

Average school debt now is ~ 250k at least

Average salary is ~130k

So, our salary to debt ratio is DOUBLE what it used to be.

 

[Surive123]

Are you trying to say we're better off now?

Average school debt now is ~ 250k at least

Average salary is ~130k

So, our salary to debt ratio is DOUBLE what it used to be.

Quite the opposite. I was actually referring more to the trend they witnessed and the proactive measures they took.

I.e. They see that there is saturation, inflated tuition/debt, = closed schools = helped restore balance

We are now seeing a very similar concern now but:

brb' open more schools
brb' no end in sight for tuition hikes
brb' lack of beneficial loan repayment programs (7.9%...uwotm8)

etc...

Also, it is just interesting to see the history over the course of ~30 years.

 

[jwdent]

Interesting that the article in the 80s (when dentists who were graduating into the "golden era") brought up many of the same concerns that graduates have today. A good example that challenges facing dentists are nothing knew. I know of many dentist who have graduated from the era who are doing very well for themselves.

 

[multiades]

Quite the opposite. I was actually referring more to the trend they witnessed and the proactive measures they took.

I.e. They see that there is saturation, inflated tuition/debt, = closed schools = helped restore balance

We are now seeing a very similar concern now but:

brb' open more schools
brb' no end in sight for tuition hikes
brb' lack of beneficial loan repayment programs (7.9%...uwotm8)

etc...

Also, it is just interesting to see the history over the course of ~30 years.

Limiting the number of new schools and total student capacity is up to the ADA/CODA... Are a dozen new schools and no end in sight to enrollment increases really in the best interests of the profession? If not, is there a financial/political reason that keeps them from acting in the best interests of the profession?

 

[dantemac]

I am going to say the average salary of ~70k for that era is probably not telling the entire story. Dentists probably still made 6 figures on the whole