DO schools and cost?

[DW]

Hey,

I'm posting this question for a friend of mine who is considering applying to DO schools this year. His advisor told him that the cost of attendance and debt load for DO students tends to be considerably higher than for MD students since, while having similar tuition rates, these relatively newer DO schools tend not to have the funding sources MD Schools have. Apparently he has some list that shows graduates of certain medical schools with the most debt and most of the schools on that list are osteopathic.

Is there any merit to this? He wants to stay in the northeast so I presume he'd be most interested in hearing about PCOM, UMDNJ, NYCOM, etc. Not trying to start any debates or anything, just trying to pass some input on to a friend

thanx in advance

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[shindog]

Originally posted by DW
Hey,

I'm posting this question for a friend of mine who is considering applying to DO schools this year. His advisor told him that the cost of attendance and debt load for DO students tends to be considerably higher than for MD students since, while having similar tuition rates, these relatively newer DO schools tend not to have the funding sources MD Schools have. Apparently he has some list that shows graduates of certain medical schools with the most debt and most of the schools on that list are osteopathic.

Is there any merit to this? He wants to stay in the northeast so I presume he'd be most interested in hearing about PCOM, UMDNJ, NYCOM, etc. Not trying to start any debates or anything, just trying to pass some input on to a friend

thanx in advance

I can't speak for the northeast schools in particular, but students at DO schools do graduate with a lot of debt. This excludes in-state students at state schools and scholarship recipients (HPSP, etc.). There are very few grants, scholarships (not including military, primary care scholarships) available at DO schools. However, it is still fairly close to the debt that allopathic students accumulate as out-of-staters at state schools and at private schools located in expensive cities. Had I gone to Loyola-Chicago, my debt would have been identical to what it is now at OSU-COM as an out-of-stater. At most of the private DO schools you're looking at around $30K tuition per year.

Hope this helps.

 

[sddoc]

I attend LECOM in Pennsylvania. The tuition and fees run about $22,000 per year, and they allow you to take out up to $20,000 per year in living expenses. So, if you are keeping track, the average LECOM graduate is in debt about $168,000.

Wow, that's kind of scary, isn't it???

 

[Tim Haas]

hey sddoc, how is lecom? I live in PA and am considering that school? thanks

 

[LINY]

The majority of DO schools are private and thus more expensive.
I go to nycom and I am looking at about $160,000 by the end. However, to reassure your friend...... all of the alumni (even the recent ones) are living quite comfortably to say the least!

I wouldn't worry about the money as much as finding a school where you will be happy and successful