Physician Education Debt and the Cost to Attend Medical School: 2020 Update (2024)

DESIGNED FOR

Designed for financial aid staff and advisors; students and potential students; leadership, deans, and CEOs; and other audiences interested in trends in medical student debt, cost, and repayment.

OVERVIEW AND BENEFITS

This report summarizes the state of education debt for medical schoolgraduates and the attendance costs of medical schools, with a focus on 2019data. Education debt is the sum of both medical school debt and premedical,including college, debt; they are combined because the sum is the amount amedical school graduate must repay. Readers will learn about recent trendsacross a range of debt and cost topics and how medical school graduatesmanage their education debt repayment.

Key findings include:

• The median education debt for indebted medical school graduatesin 2019 was $200,000, and 73% of graduates reported havingeducation debt.
• The median education debt of indebted graduates has increased,but at a rate only slightly higher than inflation, and has been stableat $200,000 for the past two years. The percentage of medicalschool graduates with education debt declined from 86% in 2012 to73% in 2019.
• Race/ethnicity is associated with variations in education debt, whichare heavily influenced both by the mix of private versus public schools attended and by how students expected to fund theirmedical education when they entered medical school.
• Specialty content along with a graduate’s personality and interests,the influence of role models, and the value of work-life balance allhave the highest importance in specialty-choice decisions, accordingto most graduates. Education debt and potential income do notseem to play determining roles in the specialty choice of mostgraduates. The influence of debt on specialty choice is weaker than10 other factors, regardless of debt level or family income level. Interest in primary care is consistent across debt levels.

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