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Ya why are people saying they wouldn't attend if tuition was ~100k..?  You realize most programs are ~70-90k nowadays?  Include cost of living and you're over 100k easily.  That's just the reality, if you have any solutions I'm all ears.

you have to pay "cost of living" whether or not you are in school. Rent, car payments, etc are a fact of life, not a school expense.

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UNT is the program I went to

 

"Estimated living expenses" can always vary- the only thing to really control for is tuition and fees.  Of course I ended up paying more than $21K for all of PA school, but it was such a bargain at that price for a master's program that gave me a good foundation.

 

Still doesn't change my opinion that > $100,000, and especially $125,000 for tuition and fees for PA school alone makes it near impossible to recommend PA over medical school

agree. especially with 3 yr med schools. I went to pa school for 3 years.

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UNT is the program I went to

 

"Estimated living expenses" can always vary- the only thing to really control for is tuition and fees. Of course I ended up paying more than $21K for all of PA school, but it was such a bargain at that price for a master's program that gave me a good foundation.

 

Still doesn't change my opinion that > $100,000, and especially $125,000 for tuition and fees for PA school alone makes it near impossible to recommend PA over medical school

The reason I offer the information is that financial aid is based on the school's estimate of total expenses. Financial aid is actually a misnomer. You don't get free money but you will be able to borrow that much from Stafford and grad plus or private loans if you have good credit. For students who can live at home, either with parents or their own nuclear family, costs may be less. As for what you would recommend, that's your prerogative. Prices are, indeed, exorbitant. That, in part, is due to the ready availability of loans.

 

What I would recommend is a bit different. Look at the number of years to get your diploma and the total cost for you depending on whether you are a resident, live nearby, etc and apply to schools where you can get your degree for $100,000 or less. Otherwise you will spending a lot of your after tax income on loan repayments for quite a few years. As for med school or PA school, that depends on you. It isn't purely an economic decision. Some people would just prefer to be a PA than an MD.

 

A university education used to be a lot cheaper. I borrowed for my undergrad degree at Georgetown but it was a pittance. My PhD at UVa was better than free. I got a stipend for being a teaching assistant and paid no tuition. My MBA, also at UVa was partly paid for by scholarships and partly by loans. The loans were never much of a burden and I paid them off slowly because the interest rates were so low. IMO, a University education, today, is a total rip-off but, as a professor of mine once said, if you want filet you have to pay the price of filet and it does no good to complain. Otherwise, buy hamburger.

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It depends on if you are talking just the PA program or the 4 yr degree prior to PA school. I don't remember the cost of my program but my 4 yrs + 2 yr PA was about $150k in 2007. Most paid by scholarships. I exited PA school with 65K in debt and a bachelors in PA

I can say that this was probably not the same for everyone. I had teens and a husband at home and supplemented part of our income.

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I'll be attending EVMS this January and tuition/fees/books/equipment will cost $86K. The school said the average student took out a $130k  loan for the class of 2016. But they did mention that was higher than previous years. For those of you that did PA school for ~$30k, was it a degree program or just the certification?

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For those getting ready to take the plunge, please read this:

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2012/08/13/6-steps-to-determine-how-much-to-borrow-for-college

 

The central idea is that your college debt should be no more (roughly) than your annual starting salary. Ideally you would like to pay off your loans in ten years paying ten percent or less of your annual salary. For a PA, I think it's fair to say that starting salaries are in the range $70-$110K. That means borrowing $150k or more is going to be a real burden, especially if you are the bread winner and have kids. If you start PA school with residual college debt, your situation will be just that much worse. Based on that you may want to consider the following:

1. If you can live with a working spouse or parents, look for schools you can commute to from home.

2. If you have a choice between a school with low in-state tuition and a much more expensive private school, seriously consider the cheaper school even if you would otherwise prefer the more expensive school. In either case, look at total costs of tuition, fees, books, supplies and all living and travel expenses.

3. If you have a lot of undergrad debt, consider working for a few years, accumulating HCE and pre-reqs as you pay down debt. If you have no undergrad debt, do this anyway to get ahead of the game.

4. If you have parents with money, be really nice to them.

5. Before taking out loans, especially if you are young and don't have much credit experience, see if getting Mom & Dad, or Nana to consign will reduce your interest rate.

6. Think really hard before you marry the cool surfer dude or starving artist. It's just as easy to fall in love with a nice guy or gal with real income prospects. (The Geek Association paid me big bucks to add that.)

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^^^^^^^ Good advice and full of common sense. 

 

I graduated with about $22,000 in debt and got a BS degree.  My program tuition was the normal in-state tuition and was at the premier school in Wisconsin (or so they say).  I graduated in 2004.  Now it is a Master's program so tuition is much higher.  My living expenses did not change as we already owned a home, i worked part-time the first year, husbands business was at the boom stage then, and we lived within our means.  

 

I was really fortunate and am thankful to not have a crushing debt load.  Plus once out of school I qualified for a state loan forgiveness (75% of my loan was paid) program for working in an underserved area.

 

It was serendipity and all the stars lined up for me.  I still work in underserved area and always will if I have any say in the matter. 

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you have to pay "cost of living" whether or not you are in school. Rent, car payments, etc are a fact of life, not a school expense.

This is absolutely TRUE. However, if you have a job, these expenses are paid from your salary. While going to school, many people need to borrow this money meaning it adds to the school loans they must repay.

 

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This is absolutely TRUE. However, if you have a job, these expenses are paid from your salary. While going to school, many people need to borrow this money meaning it adds to the school loans they must repay.

 

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OR you can do a part time program(there are 8ish out there) and pay these bills as you go....I did the drexel/hahnemann program part time in 3 years and worked as a medic 24 hrs/week for the first 2 years(year 3 is the regular yr 2 so could only work a few standbys at concerts).

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OR you can do a part time program(there are 8ish out there) and pay these bills as you go....I did the drexel/hahnemann program part time in 3 years and worked as a medic 24 hrs/week for the first 2 years(year 3 is the regular yr 2 so could only work a few standbys at concerts).

Good info for those who would like to graduate w/o accumulating a crushing debt load. It would be nice if there were more of these programs.

 

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Military is also a good route. I enlisted as an Army Medic, and took night, weekend and online courses in addition to CLEP tests at a local university to earn my undergrad. Using active duty tuition assistance, I probably spent ~500 dollars a year to earn my BS. Used the Post 9/11 GI Bill in PA school going to a cheap(er) state program as a resident. The GI Bill paid all of my tuition and fees, gave me a $1400/month housing allowance, and a small yearly allowance for books and supplies. I ended up graduating with ~75K in loans, because my wife and I were both full time students with a child, and she is saving her GI Bill for PT school. If I was single and not a parent, I could have easily graduated with 0 debt. I will have my school loans paid off in 3 years. I am in the process of commissioning into the National Guard. Current loan repayment for Guard PAs is 75K for 3 years.

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Military is also a good route. I enlisted as an Army Medic, and took night, weekend and online courses in addition to CLEP tests at a local university to earn my undergrad. Using active duty tuition assistance, I probably spent ~500 dollars a year to earn my BS. Used the Post 9/11 GI Bill in PA school going to a cheap(er) state program as a resident. The GI Bill paid all of my tuition and fees, gave me a $1400/month housing allowance, and a small yearly allowance for books and supplies. I ended up graduating with ~75K in loans, because my wife and I were both full time students with a child, and she is saving her GI Bill for PT school. If I was single and not a parent, I could have easily graduated with 0 debt. I will have my school loans paid off in 3 years. I am in the process of commissioning into the National Guard. Current loan repayment for Guard PAs is 75K for 3 years.

 

I have 8 months left on my post 9/11 GI Bill. From what I have read, there is a $17k max per year limit and my school costs $11k a semester. If you don't mind me asking, how much was your PA school (semester or year)? I'm trying to do VocRehab, but they are not sure about me doing it because it will cost $90k

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17K/yr is the rate for private schools, or if you are going to school in a non-resident status. If you are attending a public school as a resident the tuition and fees are paid regardless of the cost. I went to Idaho State. Tuition was just under 10K/term, for a total cost of about 60K. I had no problems getting it covered by the GI Bill. I don't know enough about Voc Rehab to give good info there, though.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have 8 months left on my post 9/11 GI Bill. From what I have read, there is a $17k max per year limit and my school costs $11k a semester. If you don't mind me asking, how much was your PA school (semester or year)? I'm trying to do VocRehab, but they are not sure about me doing it because it will cost $90k

Fitzy, I did two years on voc rehab and graduated this past August.  They had no problem covering me and my tuition was about $30K per term.  Additionally, you will get yellow ribbon coverage like you do with GI Bill to cover any difference.

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@Fitzy, they also shelled out the $500 for my PANCE, bought all my med supplies (stethoscope, etc) books, you name it.  Oh, they also paid for my PACKRATs along the way.  I had some time left on my GI Bill and started school with that.  When it expired, Voc Rehab kept me at the GI Bill BAH (it was grandfathered in), which is good because Voc Rehab BAH is much lower than GI Bill.  As you can see however, they did a kickass job paying for everything else.  Your counselor is a moron.  

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Fitzy, I did two years on voc rehab and graduated this past August.  They had no problem covering me and my tuition was about $30K per term.  Additionally, you will get yellow ribbon coverage like you do with GI Bill to cover any difference.

I'm working on getting Voc Rehab now. The Utah office said it might be a problem getting approved due to how much the school costs. I just got a call from them last week and they said they could not approve it because the school I will be attending is in Virginia and they will have to transfer my file to them for approval. I'm hoping to hear something in the next couple of weeks.

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