10 Medical Schools Where Students Leave With the Most Debt
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Despite the higher earnings after residency, there's a great cost to becoming a physician.
Students who graduated from medical degree-granting schools in 2017 owed nearly $191,000 on average, according to a recent report from the Association of American Medical Colleges. The AAMC report also found that the average debt load is even higher for 2017 graduates who attended a private med school: around $206,000.
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According to data submitted by 113 ranked medical schools to U.S. News in an annual survey, graduates from Nova Southeastern University in Florida left school in 2015 with the largest bill. The average indebtedness for a medical grad from this private school in 2015 totaled $259,422.
Among the 10 schools where 2015 med students left with the most debt, seven are private institutions. The remaining three are public: Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine and College of Osteopathic Medicine and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. At both Michigan schools, tuition charged to out-of-state students for the 2016-2017 year is nearly double the in-state rate at $87,152 and $86,866, respectively.
Among the private med schools with the most indebted grads, the average tuition for the 2016-2017 year was slightly more than $52,000.
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Indebted graduates from these 10 schools owed around $240,000 on average for their medical education, U.S. News data show. That's 45 percent more than the average debt among all 2015 medical grads.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine in Minnesota had med school grads leave with the least average debt in 2015: $69,695.
Below are the 10 medical schools where 2015 graduates who borrowed to complete their M.D. or D.O. had the highest average debt. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
School (name) (state) | Tuition (2016-2017) | Average indebtedness (2015) | U.S. News research rank | U.S. News primary care rank |
$54,806 | $259,422 | RNP* | RNP | |
In-state: $44,198; out-of-state: $87,152 | $254,164 | RNP | 60 | |
$51,500 | $254,117 | RNP | RNP | |
$51,824 | $251,768 | RNP | RNP | |
$54,758 | $235,449 | 83 (tie) | RNP | |
$54,930 | $235,004 | RNP | RNP | |
$53,740 | $233,282 | RNP | 86 (tie) | |
In-state: $44,177; out-of-state: $86,866 | $232,172 | RNP | 33 | |
$44,370 | $228,896 | RNP | RNP | |
In-state: $20,450 ; out-of-state: $50,200 | $227,032 | RNP | RNP |
* RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one-fourth of all medical schools. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.
Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News Medical School Compass to find debt and tuition data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed 170 medical schools for our 2016 survey of research and primary care programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Medical Schools rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The debt and tuition data above are correct as of Dec. 19, 2017.
Farran Powell is an education reporter at U.S. News, covering paying for college and graduate school. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at fpowell@usnews.com.
