Figuring out how you’re going to pay for medical school is no small feat. With many med schools costing over $90,000 a year, you need to consider all possible outlets for financing your education. That’s why the sooner you start planning, the better off you’ll be.
According to Senior Admissions Consultant Greg Goldmakher, “Typically, most applicants begin the financial aid application process early in the new year, around January or February.”
Most students use a combination of federal, institutional, and private loans to pay for med school. The medical schools administer the federal loans, and each school determines how much federal aid you’re eligible for. The amount will vary from school to school.
The first step in applying for financial aid is completing the FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This application collects all the information med schools need to determine your eligibility for financial assistance. Many med schools also use the FAFSA when deciding how to distribute institutional scholarships and grants.
Says Goldmakher, “Regardless of whether or not you plan to ask for financial aid, the FAFSA is used as the starting point to determine your eligibility for federal loans.”
You can find the FAFSA online on the official FAFSA website at www.fafsa.ed.gov, or you can get one from your school’s financial aid office. Be sure to go to this official site, as some other websites will try to charge you to apply for financial aid or find scholarships. We told you so here: the FAFSA is free.
Federal loans are a great option for med school students, because you can usually get a lower interest rate than with private loans. However, you may also need to take out private institutional loans from banks or other lenders, because there’s a cap on how much you can receive in federal loans.
For 2019, medical school students can borrow up to $40,500 in Federal Stafford Loans each year. Depending on your personal finances, you may need to borrow additional funds to cover your med school expenses.
How much you can get in private loans depends in part on your credit score. Banks are more likely to lend you money if you have good credit. That’s why it’s a good idea to get a copy of your credit report. You can request one free copy of your credit report each year from www.annualcreditreport.com.
Credit reports sometimes contain inaccurate information, and it can take time to get those errors corrected. “The sooner you receive your credit report, the sooner you can clean up any credit problems,” says Goldmakher. “If you get a copy of your report now, you should have plenty of time to correct any mistakes you find. I recommend making sure you have good credit prior to applying for a private loan.”
Greg also recommends a few other alternatives for financial assistance. If you’re in the military, “various branches of the armed services will fund your medical education in exchange for a commitment to serve as an armed services physician for several years after graduation.” Greg notes that this is not a bad deal, since a military physician is an officer in the service.
For students with serious interest and experience in research, the Medical Scientist Training Program is an option to think about. “This is an MD-PhD program which was started by the NIH, but many schools have additional funding from private sources for the program, and have many more slots than the NIH funds,” says Greg. The two largest are Washington University in St. Louis and the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Take the time now to learn all you can about your options for financing med school. If you use all your available resources, you should be able to secure the funds you need to pay for your priceless education.
So get busy on your FAFSA today. With the rising costs of medical school, make sure you give yourself the best possible chance for all the financial aid you deserve!