10 Public Medical Schools With the Lowest In-State Tuition and Fees
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Many prospective doctors take out enormous student loans to pay for medical school.
Among 2018 medical school graduates, the majority -- 71% -- had medical education debt, according to a fact card published by the Association of American Medical Colleges. In 2018, the median amount of medical school debt among newly minted doctors who borrowed was $194,000, the AAMC fact card shows.
[Read: How to Attend Medical School for Free.]
One strategy for reducing costs is to attend an in-state public medical school.
Among the 73 ranked public schools in the U.S. News Best Medical Schools rankings that submitted this data, the average in-state tuition and fees during the 2018-19 academic year totaled $35,218. But the average price for out-of-state students among the 72 public schools that reported this amount was about $24,100 higher: $59,339. That average out-of-state cost at ranked public medical schools even surpassed the amount among ranked private schools, where the average tuition and fees were $57,506.
Meanwhile, the 10 public medical schools with the lowest in-state tuition and fees charged an average of $20,320. Eight of the 10 schools are located in Texas.
[See: 10 Costs to Expect When Applying to Medical School.]
The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine was the most affordable public institution, charging in-state students $18,808. At the opposite end of the spectrum, in-state students paid the most at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where in-state tuition and fees added up to $56,896.
Below is a list of the 10 ranked public medical schools with the lowest in-state tuition and fees during the 2018-19 academic year. 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) | In-state tuition and fees (2018-2019) | U.S. News research rank | U.S. News primary care rank |
$18,808 | 90 (tie) | 71 (tie) | |
$18,960 | 93-120 | 88 (tie) | |
$19,057 | 83 | 88 (tie) | |
$19,456 | 78 (tie) | 21 (tie) | |
$19,524 | 93-120 | 71 (tie) | |
$19,783 | 60 (tie) | 74 (tie) | |
$21,034 | 26 | 18 (tie) | |
$21,730 | 70 (tie) | 85 (tie) | |
University of Texas Health Science Center--Houston (McGovern) | $22,176 | 52 (tie) | 67 (tie) |
$22,672 | 93-120 | 91-120 |
Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News Medical School Compass to find in-state tuition and fees figures, 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 185 medical schools for our 2018 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 tuition and fees data above are correct as of April 9, 2019.
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