PAEA Report 33 Shows PA School Tuition Increase
According to the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) Report 33, in-state tuition for PA schools at public universities increased by 10% for the 2016-2017 school years. For out-of-state tuition the increase was less, at 9.2%; and for private PA schools there was a 3.3% increase.
The PAEA is the national organization representing PA education programs in the United States. The survey for the report was administered in June 2017, thus the data is based on the 2016-2017 school year. At the time it represented 224 programs. The survey closed in October of 2017 and the data was released in 2018.
The median in-state tuition at public universities was $42,792. The median for out-of-state tuition for public universities was almost double at $79,552. Private universities had a median tuition of $85,430.
The report includes other information from PA schools including, general information such as admission and credentials, program personal and student demographics.
The biggest takeaway for prospective PA school students is that even though PA salaries have seen signs of plateauing the cost of PA school continues to rise. This means the cost of becoming a PA is increasing, but this does not correlate to an increase in salary once you’re finished. This has been the trend for medical school as well. If you’re going into the medical field solely for the salary then it might not be the right career for you.
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I like to tell anyone thinking about PA school that it’s best to start thinking about how you’re going to pay for it before you apply. With that in mind it’s helpful to know what the cost is going to be. If you’re planning on applying in the future the cost of PA school is most likely going to be more than it is currently, so factor that increase into the cost of attending a PA program.
Another takeaway from this report is that staying in-state can save you almost half of what you would pay by going out of state or attending a private school. It does not always work to stay in-state; if you get accepted to a PA school that is out-of-state, you take what you are offered.
If your state does not have a public school that offers a PA program you can look at states that do. Many people interested in PA school work between undergraduate studies and applying to PA school; if you look at public schools that offer in-state tuition for PA programs you could move to one of those states and work for a year (or however long it takes) to establish residency in that state. Once you’re a resident in that state you would qualify for in-state tuition and be able to save a lot on tuition related expenses.
Of course, the cost of PA school is just one of many factors to look at when deciding on which schools to apply to. However, it can have financial implications for years after you graduate, that not everyone thinks about when they are in the moment of applying to schools.
Applying to PA school soon? If so, have you already calculated the cost of attending school and made plans for 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!
