Tution costs for DO

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frikarika

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Hey SDNers,

I'm interested in both MD and DO, primarily because I want to do family practice. I plan on applying to probably 5-6 MD, 4-5 DO schools depending on how my stats end up at the end of this year. One of my primary concerns is tuition costs/scholarships and the amount of debt I will accumulate during medical school. To me it seems that DO schools are much more expensive than MD schools on average, is there any reason behind this? How do DO schools compare on financial aide, are they more generous?

any help would be appreciated,

thanks

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Hey SDNers,

I'm interested in both MD and DO, primarily because I want to do family practice. I plan on applying to probably 5-6 MD, 4-5 DO schools depending on how my stats end up at the end of this year. One of my primary concerns is tuition costs/scholarships and the amount of debt I will accumulate during medical school. To me it seems that DO schools are much more expensive than MD schools on average, is there any reason behind this? How do DO schools compare on financial aide, are they more generous?

any help would be appreciated,

thanks


Yes,

O schools are quite expensive - unless you are fortenate to live in a state with a public osteopathic program. Those are Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, West Virginia. I knew some people at my school who moved to the state and getting their residence here before they even began applying because they wanted to save a lot of money....at first I thought they were a little weird...but in hindsight...that was probably a really smart idea....
 
I'm interested in both MD and DO, primarily because I want to do family practice. I plan on applying to probably 5-6 MD, 4-5 DO schools...How do DO schools compare on financial aide, are they more generous?

First of all, unless your stats are very solid, I would strongly recommend applying to more than the 10 total schools, as you have planned above.

Secondly, as to DO schools being more expensive than MD schools, that's only partially true. A large number of DO schools are private institutions, explaining the hefty tuition. Private MD schools and tuition for public MD schools for out-of-state students are all quite expensive.

And as far as financial aid is concerned, each individual school can give you a better representation of their awards, but much of it is not dependent on the school. Mostly, your aid will come in the form of the Subsidized Stafford Loan (limit of $5000/year, no interest) and the Unsubsidized Stafford Loan (limit of $30,000/year, interest accrues either after you graduate or whenever you start making payments, I forget.) Additional funding can be obtained by pay-for-work scholarships, who will pay your tuition for a year if you commit to working for that given institution for a year (ie, a branch of the armed service.) Filling out your FAFSA is where that all begins.

Hopefully this information is helpful, and accurate, as I am writing this mostly from memory. Anyone else who has any input is encouraged to correct/amend/add anything. :)
 
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DO schools tend to be more expensive because they are most are private rather than State-run and the private ones are not associated with larger universities like most MD schools so they have to bring in more of their budget from tuition. Here's a link for a graph of tuition for different DO schools: http://aacom.org/colleges/tuition.asp. The tuition goes as low as $26k.

Financial aid is pretty much the same at every medical school: all loans (w/ some schools offering scholarships). As a graduate student you are eligable for only Stafford, Perkins, and Grad Plus loans. The maximum amount of the Stafford and Perkins is determined by the government ($34k unsubsidized Stafford, $8.5k subsidized Stafford, and $5k perkins). The reminder of your living costs are covered by Grad Plus, no limit.

If you plan on going into primary care, you can apply for the Government's National Health Service Corps program, which will can cover your entire tuition in return for 3yrs of service in an underserved area. Link: http://nhsc.bhpr.hrsa.gov/
 
DO schools tend to be more expensive because they are most are private rather than State-run and the private ones are not associated with larger universities like most MD schools so they have to bring in more of their budget from tuition. Here's a link for a graph of tuition for different DO schools: http://aacom.org/colleges/tuition.asp. The tuition goes as low as $26k.

Financial aid is pretty much the same at every medical school: all loans (w/ some schools offering scholarships). As a graduate student you are eligable for only Stafford, Perkins, and Grad Plus loans. The maximum amount of the Stafford and Perkins is determined by the government ($34k unsubsidized Stafford, $8.5k subsidized Stafford, and $5k perkins). The reminder of your living costs are covered by Grad Plus, no limit.

If you plan on going into primary care, you can apply for the Government's National Health Service Corps program, which will can cover your entire tuition in return for 3yrs of service in an underserved area. Link: http://nhsc.bhpr.hrsa.gov/

Man....Texas......
 
the tuition listed on the state for Texas is wrong... I found this out when I went for an interview. For out of staters its 25,900 for in staters around 11,000. They raised it as they did most of the schools check each schools website to get the updated tuition rates.
 
Thanks for all the great information. :) I guess I can expect to pay a hefty sum wherever I go. I am interested in the Government's National Health Service Corps program, or maybe the armed services program to pay for school. But I'll worry about all that once I actually get in somewhere.
 
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