How Do Medical Students Pay For Living Expenses

You can stretch a limited financial aid package by reducing your overall expenses. Consider attending a school close to home to save on room and board. Other tips include buying secondhand clothes, avoiding lavish meals out and postponing any unnecessary travel.

How Do Medical Students Pay for Living Expenses? (Crucial Money Saving Tips)

This is the definitive guide on medical student living expenses.

Here you’ll learn:

How med students pay for living expenses
What types of living expenses med students face
How med students can cut their living expenses
If you can go to med school despite being poor

Ready to learn more? Let’s get started.

How Do Medical Students Pay for Living Expenses?

There are three main ways med students pay for living expenses during their studies; loans, work and family support.

Loans: there are two types of loans available to American med students; one for tuition and one for living expenses. The first depends on the cost of the school. The second, referred to as ‘federal loans’ or ‘grad PLUS loans’, depends on factors like local housing costs, transport costs and personal needs etc.
Work: some med students supplement their studies with paid work.
Family/Parents: others are dependent on money given to them by parents or other family members. Some med students are also supported by a full-time working spouse or partner.

These ring true no matter what the country of study.

Obviously the amount you can borrow in loans depends entirely on the country of study. In the U.S., federal loans (those used to cover living expenses) can range anywhere from $20-40K per year of study. Most American med students agree this is more than sufficient.

Private loans are also another option for med students anywhere to pay for their living expenses. These usually have a very high interest rate however so are not often recommended.

In other countries, like the UK and Sweden for example, you can get some financial help from the government in the form of bursaries (not expected to be paid back). But it’s more usual this will cover only a part of total expenses.

Working students obviously have an opportunity cost to consider. Time spent earning is time not studying. Unless you’re a residential nurse (RN) or similar and can gain translatable work experience for your studies – all while earning a reasonable $20+ hourly rate – the option becomes questionable.

What Living Expenses Do Med Students Have?

The living expenses of med students across the world are pretty standard. They include things like housing, transport costs and food.

What Is the Cost of Attendance?

In the U.S., living expenses are a little easier to quantify thanks to “Cost of Attendance (COA)”. This is essentially a pre-made budget created by a medical school’s financial aid department. It’s usually made public on each medical school’s website.

A COA breaks down all the potential expenses a med student can expect to have attending that school. Typically, it takes the form of a list. You can think of it as the ceiling of the amount of money you are allowed to borrow for a given academic year.

Here’s an example of the COA from UMich (a school I reference a lot on this site!)…

Notice how living expenses are broken down into things like food, clothing, rent, utilities, personal, educational materials, exam fees and travel? These are typical med student living expenses.

Other Med School Living Expenses

Some other med student living expenses that aren’t apparently obvious include:

Childcare: you can petition financial aid to increase your COA and the funds available to you and pay them back as a percentage of future income. Countries outside the U.S. might give you a child allowance also.
Vacation/Research Projects: sometimes med students might need to spend some downtime outside the study environment to regain their energy or work on important research projects.
Leisure: video games and Netflix; these things don’t pay for themselves. Although it pays to be frugal in med school, you need to schedule time for hobbies too.

Extra Things To Consider About Med School Expenses and Cost of Attendance

A few things to bear in mind when it comes to expenses as that they don’t tend to stay the same! Here’s why:

Yearly Change: different years in med school incur different costs. Second year (M2) med school in America, for example, involves paying to take STEP 1. You need to know your schedule to factor in hidden expenses.
Location: if you live in more urban places the costs of living tend to be higher.
Interest: loans you take to cover living expenses incur interest. This is an overall cost you really need to keep an eye on. A good rule of thumb is to multiply every dollar you borrow by ten and treat that amount as the future interest total at the end of residency.
Summers/Non-Included Time: loan disbursements usually happen twice a year depending where you study. They don’t cover long summers (med school isn’t always year round).

If you’re looking for general advice on how to manage loans etc then be sure to check out the AAMC’s education debt management guide here. An important read.

How Do Medical Students Pay Rent?

Med students pay rent via loans, family or spousal support or by working. Typically it’s paid on a monthly basis with rental contracts ranging anything between a single year of study or the whole duration.

How Med Students Can Reduce Housing Expenses:

There are a few ways med students can make a dent in their living expenses by focusing on housing (one of the biggest costs):

Live at Home: only ideal if their med school is local. The savings are quite substantial though!
Mortgage a House: rent rooms in a property to help cover the mortgage cost as well as a large chunk of your living expenses. Involves a lot of responsibility and upfront cost so it’s not a common option.
Subsidized Housing: many med schools have dorms and low cost housing options for students to take advantage of.

How Can Med Students Reduce Living Expenses?

Other ways med students can reduce their living expenses include:

Cooking at home and avoid eating out
Use public transport and save on the expenses involved owning a car
Borrow educational materials from the library or buy second-hand
Pick up cheap hobbies
Exercise at home rather than using a gym

And obviously picking up extra work in the preclinical years (where the schedule is more flexible) is a good way to reduce expenses by earning more!

How Do Medical Students Pay for Living Expenses: Reddit Suggestions

And if you don’t just want to take my word for it, here are several more recommendations from med students over on Reddit…

Get roommates, and try to minimize how much loans you take out. Apply for scholarships too.
u/0logMAR

Go to a cheap med school and live in one of the most affordable cities in the nation
u/coffeePRN

Other than loans, ask your school about scholarship opportunities. My school emails during the year about scholarships students can apply for.
u/kapoorsu

I budget $300 monthly for groceries and usually give myself $100 eating out. Budget well.
u/matane

It is completely normal to live entirely off loans. You can try to minimize the amount you need to take out by finding affordable housing and living on a budget.
u/mcssej22

Can You Go To Medical School If You Are Poor?

If this article has put the fear into you, don’t be misguided; you can go to medical school if you’re poor. Loans, scholarships and financial aid are all available to you. Some are even means tested (meaning you can get more than others).

Should You Go To Medical School If You Are Poor?

This is the bigger question. In short; the earning trajectory after becoming a doctor suggests yes. But it does depend on how you finance it. So do plenty of research and be sure to check interest rates on loans before you commit.

A couple ideas on how you can make it work include considering training through the military (who generally give good bursaries) or to work for a non-profit out of med school and hope for loan forgiveness.

Could be ideas you might want to explore.

Summary

Medical students are just like any other; their studies come at a cost!

Hopefully this article has helped explain how med students manage it while offering some handy tips to cut costs even further.

How To Pay for Medical School

Jill A. Chafin is a staff writer at LendingTree. A seasoned pro in the field of savings and personal finance, her work has appeared on the Motley Fool’s Blueprint, How-to Geek’s Life Savvy and her own blog.

Sarah Fisher is a deputy editor at LendingTree. She has several years of experience as a personal finance writer and editor, and previously worked at The Balance and SmartAsset.

Pearly Huang is the copy chief at LendingTree. Pearly has previously worked at the Huffington Post, American Express Publishing, TIME Inc., Condé Nast, Hearst and Vox Media.

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Many students feel overwhelmed when trying to figure out how to pay for medical school without drowning in debt. The average out-of-state tuition at a private medical school in 2022-2023 was $58,166. Given the expense, it’s not surprising that 71% of med students from the class of 2022 had student debt.
Fortunately, you may be able to make medical school slightly more affordable with financial aid, scholarships, or by going to a tuition-free medical school.

6 ways to pay for medical school

Becoming a doctor usually requires a serious commitment and a lot of money. Be sure to ask yourself whether medical school is worth the cost before diving in. If you have a passion for health care, you could always pursue other jobs in the field. For example, the cost of a nursing degree is usually lower, and generally requires less time to complete.

If you have your heart set on becoming a doctor, here are six ways to pay for med school.

1. Look for scholarships and grants
2. Enroll in a service program
3. Find a free medical school
4. Apply for federal financial aid
5. Consider private student loans
6. Get a part-time job

1. Look for scholarships and grants

If you’re wondering how to pay for medical school, you should start your search by finding free money. The more scholarships and grants you receive, the more you can reduce your overall student loan debt.

Medical school scholarships and grants can be based on merit and financial need and are typically offered by universities, nonprofit organizations and private companies. You can search for opportunities through the Association of American Medical Colleges or by using a scholarship search tool.

Don’t limit yourself to just medical school awards, either. You can research a variety of scholarships, including some that may be designed to support people with your gender, race, personal interests, socioeconomic background, location, military affiliation and more. A scholarship search site can help filter your options and notify you when opportunities meet your unique criteria.

2. Enroll in a service program

Enrolling in a service program with the government or military can help pay for medical school. The institution will cover some or all of your medical school costs if you work there for a certain number of years.

Here are some programs to consider:

National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Scholarship: With the NHSC Scholarship Program, the Department of Health and Human Services will pay for up to four years of medical school tuition and living expenses if you commit to two years of full-time service in an approved underserved community.
Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP): This program offers members of the armed forces two-, three- and four-year military scholarships to pay for medical school tuition and fees, plus a monthly living stipend. The scholarship length and criteria vary by service branch, with the possibility of an additional sign-on bonus.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Depending on available funds, you could receive up to $50,000 per year with the CDC’s Education Loan Repayment Program for Health Professionals. You must be accepted into a two- or three-year fellowship program and follow the rules outlined in the service agreement.
State loan repayment program (SLRP): Many states offer student loan assistance to medical professionals in exchange for two to three years of work in a high-need area. Check out the database of SLRPs to find out if your state could help repay your medical school loans.

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3. Find a free medical school

Some medical schools waive tuition charges to help make the medical field more accessible to a diverse range of students. For example, New York University (NYU) now offers tuition-fee scholarships to all admitted students, regardless of financial or academic standing.

Remember that even if you attend a free medical school, you’ll most likely need to pay for nontuition costs, such as fees, room and board and supplies. Some universities, like Columbia, Cornell, Duke and UCLA all offer full-ride scholarships for medical school if you qualify based on academic merit or financial need.

4. Apply for federal financial aid

You can get financial aid for grad school, including medical school. As with undergraduate school, it all starts with submitting your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Medical schools use the FAFSA to determine how much aid you’re eligible for based on your financial needs. Send an application to every school you’ve applied to, even if you haven’t received an acceptance letter yet. This will ensure you get as much financial aid as possible.

The process is the same as when you filed the FAFSA for undergrad — just make sure to check each medical school’s deadline requirements. And even though you are now considered an independent student, some medical schools still require your parents’ financial info when determining award packages.

5. Consider private student loans

Even if you received scholarships and financial aid, you might not have enough to cover your med school’s total cost of attendance.

While private student loans can help cover remaining financial gaps, you should exhaust your federal student loan options first since they tend to offer lower interest rates and more flexible repayment plans. Med students can borrow federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans and grad PLUS loans, regardless of financial need or credit score.

Private lenders typically look at your income and also require borrowers to have a good to excellent credit score. If you have low or bad credit, you may need to apply with a creditworthy cosigner to secure the best rates and terms.

6. Get a part-time job

Taking on a part-time job while juggling the rigors of medical school might seem impossible. But if you can squeeze in a few hours of paid work or start a side hustle, it could help chip away at your medical school debt. There are even companies offering student loan repayment assistance as an extra perk. You’ll probably still need to limit your hours to ensure you don’t burn out because medical school can be very grueling.

Many medical schools also offer research and teaching aid opportunities where you can assist professors or lead small group discussions for undergrads in exchange for tuition credits.

For example, the Stanford School of Medicine will deduct $13,820 from your tuition each quarter if you work 20 hours per week as a teaching aid (TA). A research assistant (RA) can receive a deduction of $11,820 for the same hours of work. Additionally, both roles can earn a quarterly salary of just over $12,000. Since the quarterly tuition is $21,249, you could actually completely cover the cost of tuition with this program.

Contact your school to discuss how to make money in medical school. There might be application deadlines and necessary prerequisites to become a TA or RA. Keep in mind that your med school might have limitations on how many hours you can work at a job while attending their program.

Additional ways to pay for medical school debt

Even with the above methods, you might not be able to fully cover your medical school expenses. Here are some more tips for paying off your med school debt.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

While PSLF doesn’t cover upfront costs, you could have your medical school debt forgiven if you work for an approved institution, such as a nonprofit or the government, and make 120 qualifying loan payments. However, it can be confusing to figure out if you qualify for PSLF.

You should first contact the Department of Education and your student loan servicer to confirm you’re eligible before pursuing this plan. You’ll also want to check out our Public Service Loan Forgiveness calculator to determine if it’s the right fit for you.

Create a budget

Make sure to revise your budget regularly to continue trimming back expenses. Even though small changes might seem insignificant, every dollar saved helps in the long run.

Crowdfunding for medical school

If you’re having trouble paying for medical school, there’s no shame in asking family and friends for help. You can start a crowdfunding campaign via GoFundMe, Gift of College, Backer or UNest. Encourage your community to donate to your medical career instead of giving birthday or holiday gifts.