After completed bachelor’s degree and plan to study in the dental or medical schools but concerned about the school cost. Do you know what good funding options to pay for the dental or medical schools? Thank you for your answer.
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Grad PLUS loans are a possibility.
For medical school, many students take the unsubsidized Direct loan which I believe is about $40,000 a year…then add the grad plus loan to that (grad plus can be up to the cost of attendance). And some get funding from the bank of mom and dad.
There is some scholarship money in varying amounts at some medical schools. My kid got $2000 a year her first two years which was a drop in the bucket…but every penny helps.
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Is grad plus a better deal than private loans? Can it be used for a DPT program?
None of these loans are a “good deal” but if that is how you need to fund a professional school program, that’s what you do.
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Well yes that’s how she is funding her program, this is my first in grad school so I’m not sure what options are less bad.
Do you think the parents should co-sign the loan or it is not a good idea?
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My medical school kept a list of scholarships in the financial aid office. I got one called the Joseph Collins Scholarship, and all it needed was a short essay. $10K I think.
I also found out the university I attended had a policy whereby employees got a certain % off tuition prorated for what % FTE you worked. I determined there was nothing saying this wouldn’t work for med students. So I asked around and found a professor willing to hire me 10 hrs/wk (25% time) at minimum wage, and then I qualified for 50% off tuition PLUS got a paper published. What a deal.
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That’s terrific…but it’s really not the norm…
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Does the student need a co-signer to get the loans? If you do co-sign, you are on the hook for full repayment of that. Co-signing also impacts your ability to get loans (because the co-signed loans count in the debt ratio calcs) and co-signing may also negatively impacts your credit score.
There are multiple paths that include military service, even without choosing a military medical school, if that’s your cup of tea.
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For medical or dental school? Whether or not parents choose to do a loan that needs to be cosigned is up to the family.
The Direct Loan and Grad Plus loans do not need to be cosigned.
My opinion…we told our kids that they were in their own to fund professional school…and we would help with living expenses if we could. We didn’t co-sign any loans…ever.
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I agree it may not be the norm. You shouldn’t depend on getting something like this. On the other hand, it’s worth it for a student to look into these things. I just looked and the Joseph Collins Scholarship is still being awarded, multiple recipients per year, it is available at every medical school located on or East of the MIssissippi. And it wouldn’t hurt to look into a school’s tuition reimbursement policies for employees. The people in the financial aid office were very helpful. Can’t hurt to look into it.
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Rich relatives… 
… Sorry not helpful but couldn’t resist.
I don’t remember where but think there is an org that helps fund things like this then you pay back based on income
There are also investors that will take a percentage(small) of future income until it’s paid off. No I am not talking about loan sharks. I forgot what they are called but in the VC world. Not sure if it would apply here. Good Luck.
If the student is a US citizen, the US military has a Health Professions Scholarship Program, where the US government pays for tuition & fees for up to 4 years of health professions-related graduate school, in exchange for the student serving in the military for a certain # of years afterwards. Qualifying professions are:
- physician
- dentist
- optometrist
- physician assistant
- clinical psychologist
It’s a competitve program, though. And one should be aware that by signing up, you CAN be deployed to a war zone overseas. AND you WILL have to go to boot camp. So if one is a couch potato and not physically fit and not willing to get in shape, then that person should probably not apply.
Some states have health professions’ grad school loan repayment programs, where the state repays a certain $ amount of your grad school loans in exchange for you working a certain amount of time in an underserved area. Arizona (where I live) has one such program → ADHS
There are also some programs that will give scholarships/loan forgiveness to people that serve unreserved communities. This is an example. Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM) | University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
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You can do income based repayment as an option on federally funded student loans.
It is possible to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness with federal loans, but not with private loans (depending on employer and assuming the program continues in the future).
I know but this was another source and just forgetting the name.
Has she been accepted into med school? Did you investigate that med school’s, financial services counselors? My question to you is, are you going to put your retirement on the line?
For our daughter’s s med school program, she could have taken some federal loans, in her name only because they were basing it on her future income.
She took out a small loan to help her to pay for the crazy rents in San Francisco. We paid her tuition and fees, and most of her living expenses through our savings, 529, and investments.
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