Don’t Forget to Include Cost of Living as an Expense for Physician Assistant School
When looking at Physician Assistant schools the cost is often determined by tuition; however the cost of PA school is much more than just tuition. One of the biggest expenses during PA school is actually the cost of living. Depending on where the school is the cost of living can range quite a bit; are you looking at schools in the Midwest compared to California or New York?
Financial Benefits of Going to PA School Close to Home
Often where you are accepted is not your choice, but as you’re looking at different schools the best place to start is close to home (or whatever state you’re a current resident). Many of the public schools offer in-state tuition which can save you a ton on the cost of tuition, also you typically have more resources close to home; i.e. your parents, other family, friends.
This provides an emotional support system for you as you go through the stresses of PA school; as well as a financial support system. Not that your family and friends are going to pay for your school, but ever little bit can help. Free dinners at Grandma’s can really add up.
The difficult part to this is that not all PA schools give the same information. Almost all will list their tuition, but the other costs are not always listed, especially the cost of living. This can make it difficult to compare the total cost of one PA school to another.
I’ve been working on collecting data to help better compare all the costs for attending PA school. What I’ve seen is the longer the program the more it’s going to cost. From the schools that have responded so far, University of Southern California has the highest cost at $221,093 and a program length of 33 months. The school with the least amount is Sullivan University which is a 24 month program and total cost of $119,200.
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Finding Information on the Cost of PA school
Where do you go for this information? The best thing is to email the programs of interest. If they have certain fees and tuition listed on their website, but not others, you can always contact someone and they should be able to get you more information. If they still do not give you all the numbers you can look it up by using a cost of living calculator, to get estimates of what it’s going to cost you to live in the area.
Another huge factor that can make the cost of PA school more is the length of the program. If you’re comparing two programs and one is 33 months and the other is 24 months, you’re going to have 9 more months of expenses. During that extra time the bills can add up, especially the living expenses.
Not only are you paying more in living expenses during that time, the interest on any of your unsubsidized loans is also adding up during that time; and if you’re like most people going to PA school you’re going to have plenty of student loans to pay back.
Plan Your Finances Early
If you’re able to get accepted into Physician Assistant school, you don’t always have the luxury of choosing where you to go, but as you’re applying and looking into different schools the financial aspect should definitely be something you’re weighing.
The best time to start planning how you’re going to pay for school is before you even apply. If you’re already in the application process you should be making plans on how you’re going to pay for school, and if you’re planning on taking out loans you should have a plan on how you’re going to repay them.
Are you applying to PA school? Have you planned how you’re going to pay for it? Please comment below the original post, sign up to receive future posts by email and share with your friends!
