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It costs a lot to go to medical school, but some schools offer more help than others, and there are several ways that you can reduce the cost of becoming a doctor. The true cost can range from around $120,000 to $600,000 over 4 years. On average, a four-year medical school education costs $235,827.
I’m Dr. Renee Marinelli, and I’ve helped hundreds of students get into the medical school of their dreams. Let’s talk about how to go to medical school while reducing the cost of attendance.
Build your dream list of medical schools with Med School Explorer. View each school’s average GPA, MCAT, tuition/application fees, and more!
The Cost of Medical School
How much does medical school cost? Your cost to attend medical school can range from $120,000 to $600,000. There are many variables that impact this cost:
- Public vs. private: Public medical school programs may cost $20,000 to $80,000 per year, while private schools are more expensive, costing between $50,000 and $100,000 per year.
- Public in-state vs. public out-of-state: Like undergrad schools, public medical schools have different in-state tuition from out-of-state tuition — often 2-3 times more for non-residents of the state. Think $20,000 to $50,000 in-state compared to $35,000 to $80,000 out-of-state.
- MD vs. DO programs: Doctor of Medicine (MD) programs are generally more expensive than Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) programs. Sometimes, the difference is minimal, but sometimes, it is 50% more expensive for MD programs.
- Housing, food, transportation, etc.: Medical school students may be expected to pay between $15,000 and $40,000 per year for housing, food, transportation, and other living expenses. The cost of living depends heavily on location. Living with family or friends may reduce your living expenses.
- Books, supplies, etc.: Books, equipment, and other important educational supplies can cost students $1,000 to $5,000 per year.
- USMLE/COMLEX: Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 3 are all USMLE exams that you take about halfway through med school. These tests cost $2,265 total if you are a US medical student, and that doesn’t factor in travel or test prep costs. The COMLEX, a comparable exam required for osteopathic medical students, costs $2,370 across the three-part exam series.
- Health insurance: Often required by med schools, health insurance may cost students $2,000 to $5,000 a year. If you have a pre-existing health insurance plan, including if you are on your family’s plan or if you have less expensive benefits due to income level, you may reduce this cost.
- Fees: Various fees may increase your yearly costs. For instance, the cost of applying to med school, tutoring fees, counseling fees, and the application process for residency (which ranges from roughly $500-$3,000, not including travel) can really rack up a bill, but most of these are one-time costs, not yearly costs.
Have you ever heard of zero-tuition schools? There are 4 or 5 medical schools that offer full scholarships to all of their students, regardless of need or merit. Keep scrolling to learn more.
Watch our free video series featuring former admissions committee members to learn everything you need to know about getting into medical school!
How Much Debt Does a Medical Student Graduate With?
The average graduate owes just over $200,000 for their post-grad medical education, not counting pre-med loans. The average medical graduate ends up paying $300,000 over the life of the loan — not counting the graduates who are able to achieve loan forgiveness.
That’s a lot more than when I graduated med school. Fortunately, there are also more solutions to medical school debt available today than ever before.
Here are a few ways to reduce or totally avoid racking up debt, either in the early years of medical school or after graduating:
- Financial aid: You can cut a significant chunk out of the average cost of medical school by taking advantage of financial aid options to reduce tuition fees. Similar to undergraduate financial aid, this may include low-interest federal student loans, private loans, grants, and scholarships.
- HPSAs loan forgiveness: After completing a residency, some loan forgiveness programs will require you to practice healthcare in designated health professional shortage areas (HPSAs). After a specified number of months working in these areas (often the equivalent of 10 years), the remainder of your school debt may be cleared.
- Income-driven loan forgiveness: Many medical graduates use income-driven loan repayment plans to reduce their monthly payments. The Department of Education unveiled the SAVE Plan in August 2023, offering undergrad and postgrad borrowers a potentially interest-free income-driven repayment plan for federal student loans.
- Public service loan forgiveness: You may be able to wipe out your loan through Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) — if you make 10 years of payments while working at least 30 hours a week at a public hospital, non-profit hospital, or other non-profit healthcare facility.
- Lower-cost medical schools: In addition to the five prominent tuition-free medical programs I discuss below, you may want to apply carefully to programs with lower medical school tuition. For instance, in-state schools are less expensive than out-of-state options. DO programs are generally less expensive than MD programs.
- Military medical school: If you’re interested in serving in the US military as part of your medical career, the military offers several ways to attend medical school for free or at a reduced cost. One example is USUHS, a medical institution run by the Department of Defense that will actually pay you to attend as a commissioned officer. (You also get unique, military-specific medical training.)
The Cost of Applying to Medical School
Applying to medical school can cost thousands of dollars, but you can find ways to reduce that cost or simply spread the total cost across many months.
Below, I broke down the cost of applying into the most common factors:
- AMCAS fee (for MD applications): $175 (first school) + $46 (for each additional school)
- AACOMAS fee (for DO applications): $198 (first school) + $57 (for each additional school)
- MCAT registration fee: $335
- Secondary application fee: around $30 to $200 per school
- Casper: $85 (for the test and sending results to the first 7 schools) + $18 (for each additional school)
- Transcripts: $10 per school
- MCAT prep/tutoring cost: $300 to $9,000
- Application/admissions consulting: $3,350-$10,500 to increase your acceptance odds
Registration fees alone account for around $1,500 based on the average number of applications from each student. Altogether, you can expect to spend at least $2,000 for the average application process, and that’s without investing in medical school admissions consulting (which can double your odds of getting in).
Because of these medical school application costs and other one-time fees, once you get in, your first year at medical school may be more expensive than your later academic years in many cases.
Read More: Practice Exams for the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test)
Tuition-Free Medical Schools
There are a few medical schools that have gone through the tough but noble process of offering tuition-free education.
Many tuition-free schools are outside the US. A lot only offer zero tuition cost to matriculants with an extreme financial need. Some give tuitionless education to people who agree to certain parameters, such as area of study and promise to work for a school’s department.
But I compiled a few truly tuition-free medical schools below:
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine: This NYU School of Medicine was the first US medical school to offer full-tuition scholarships to all students in 2018. They also offer scholarships based on need and merit for expenses beyond tuition.
- New York University Long Island School of Medicine: This is another NYU MD program, but, unlike NYU Grossman, this Long Island school offers a non-traditional 3-year MD program with a focus on primary care.
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine: A former faculty member donated $1 billion, and this Bronx school announced their MD program would be tuition-free “in perpetuity.” Watch a heartwarming video of that announcement.
- Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University: This Cleveland college offers free tuition for its 5-year MD program. It’s 5 years instead of 4 because of this school’s emphasis on biomedical research.
- Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine: This Pasadena med school has offered free tuition for matriculating classes 2020-2024. After Fall 2024, there have been no announced plans to continue free tuition.
A recent runner-up includes the prestigious Johns Hopkins. Thanks to a large donation in July 2024, students from households earning less than $300,000 per year will get free tuition, and those from households earning under $175,000 will have all tuition, fees, and living expenses covered beginning in fall 2024.
If you’re not worried about cost, check out these top US medical schools.
The Least Expensive Medical Schools
To find the least expensive med schools, you should aim for public institutions that are in your current state. In-state tuition for public colleges is typically the lowest cost for students. Also, consider the cost of living — New York City is much more expensive to live in than Lubbock, Texas.
Below are the least expensive MD programs in the US, ordered by ascending yearly cost. (Scroll a little farther to find the list of the least expensive DO programs.)
- University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine: $24,509
- University of California, Riverside School of Medicine: $24,509
- University of Central Florida College of Medicine: $25,490
- McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston: $26,125
- Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine: $30,800
- Texas A&M University School of Medicine: $31,068
- University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine: $31,510
- Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine: $31,897
- Baylor College of Medicine: $32,525
- University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School: $33,325
- University of Texas Southwestern Medical School: $34,700
- University of Texas Medical Branch John Sealy School of Medicine: $34,981
- University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine in Puerto Rico: $35,000
- University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine: $35,979
- The University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine: $36,040
- University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences: $36,073
- University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine: $37,368
- San Juan Bautista School of Medicine in Puerto Rico: $40,000
- University of Minnesota Medical School: $41,146
- Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine in Puerto Rico: $42,255
- University of New Mexico School of Medicine: $44,024
- Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine: $44,566
- University of Florida College of Medicine: $45,000
- Morehouse School of Medicine: $45,208
Looking outside the US? Here are the best Caribbean medical schools.
Here are the least expensive DO programs:
- University of North Texas Health Science Center-Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine: $27,868
- OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine: $28,886
- West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine: $31,238
- Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine Seton Hill: $37,640
- Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, PA: $38,370
- Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine Bradenton: $38,370
- Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine: $40,362
- Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine Elmira: $41,395
- William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine: $46,000
- University of Pikeville Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine: $47,650
Read More: Least Expensive Med Schools in 2024
How to Pay for Your Medical Program
Here are the most common ways to pay for medical school:
- Scholarships and grants (which don’t have to be repaid)
- Federal and private loans (which must be repaid, although some loan forgiveness programs can reduce the overall repayment amount)
“Future you” will thank “past you” if you find as many scholarships as you physically can. This is money you do not have to pay back. Some scholarships are school-specific, some are state-specific, some are based on merit, and some are based on your ethnic or gender background.
Learn More: Can You Negotiate Your Scholarship to Med School?
You’ll have to repay all loans you take out for medical school. Medical students can and should apply for federal student loans through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
You may have heard about loan forgiveness in the news. That is almost exclusively concerning federal loans you borrow from the government. The Department of Education offers income-driven repayment plans and more forgiveness options than private loan lenders.
Private loans are your last resort. I estimate 10%-20% of medical school graduates have private student debt. Sometimes it’s necessary. But they are much less forgiving about interest rates, your repayment schedule, forbearance, cancellation, and collections.
Read Next: Average Residency Salary by Specialty + Job Level
FAQs
Whether you’re going to a public in-state, public out-of-state, or private medical school is a huge cost factor. Other influential factors include MD vs. DO programs, cost of living in the school’s city, books and supplies, various fees, and your competitiveness for scholarship and grant money.
10-30 years is how long it typically takes to pay off medical school if you’re a working doctor. 10 years is the expected duration for most students with loan debt. Aggressive repayment (living with less for a few years) can reduce that loan payoff to 5 years.
Since medical school debt can be over $200,000, some healthcare workers need 20-30 years to slowly pay off their loans. There are loan forgiveness programs such as PSLF or HPSA programs.
Neurosurgeons earn over $750,000 on average each year — I believe that’s the highest-paid specialty. Thoracic surgery can pay around $700,000, while orthopedic surgery can pay between $500,000 and $600,000. Location and experience greatly impact your salary.
Make the Most of Your Investment
Because applying and going to med school cost so much, it would be a shame to not get in in the first place. Make your investment worth your time and money — get application counseling and medical school interview help to increase your chances of acceptance.
Work 1-on-1 with a physician and former admissions committee member to maximize your odds of admissions. Join the 92% of MedSchoolCoach clients who get into medical school!
Renee Marinelli, MD
Dr. Marinelli has practiced family medicine, served on the University of California Admissions Committee, and has helped hundreds of students get into medical school. She spearheads a team of physician advisors who guide MedSchoolCoach students.
