I always heard ppl say “Grad /medical school is really expensive”
If my parent make really little (20k) how does financial aid and or loans work for grad school? Is it more stingy in there then it is in undergrad?
Is it worth it to stay in a undergrad that is cheap and save my money?
Financial aid for graduate school is very different than it is for medical school.
For grad school, what kind of aid is available will depend on your field fo study and what degree you’re pursuing. PhD programs are more likely to offer scholarships and assistantships than Master’s programs. Physical science and engineering grad programs are more likely to offer scholarships and assistantships than social science, humanities or education programs. It’s actually quite common for science/engineering PhD students to get assistantships or scholarships that pay 100% of their graduate education including living expenses.
Grad school FA is merit based. Scholarships and teaching/research assistantships are used to recruit students a program wants. (Assistantships are part-time jobs–either teaching or doing research that pay a small stipend, usually in the 18-25K range, plus it gives you free tuition.) Outside of merit-based aid, the only financial aid for grad school is unsubsidized federal student loans. You can borrow up to $20,500/year in student loans.
Financial aid for medical school is mostly just unsubsidized student loans. Merit aid is very rare. Only about a dozen medical schools–all private and all top ranked–offer any kind of need-based scholarships. And even if you are offered need-based aid, you are required to take out the full amount of federal student loans ($40,500/year) first before any need-based aid kicks in.
Here is a spreadsheet of the tution & fees at every US allopathic medical school:
https://www.aamc.org/data/tuitionandstudentfees/
MEDICAL SCHOOL IS VERY EXPENSIVE. (Unless you live in and get accepted to the state public med school in a tiny numberl of “cheap” med school states–TX, WV, NC, NM.) The cost of med school (tuition & fees only) ranges from $17K/year to over $70K/year.
Besides tuition & fees, you need to factor in rent, food, transportation (most med student need a car to get to clinical sites), books, exam fees (which are several thousand $$ per test), professional clothing.
The average med student graduates with~ $190,000 in loans. About 13-15% graduate with $300,000 or more in loans.
https://members.aamc.org/eweb/upload/2016_Debt_Fact_Card.pdf
If you are planning on going to med school–it’s very important to minimize your undergrad debt. You will be taking out huge loans to pay for med school.