How much does medical school cost?

Medical school cost: public vs private

Four years of medical school cost a median of $297,745 at a public school and $408,150 at a private one for students in the class of 2026, counting tuition, fees, health insurance and living expenses.^{[aamc_afford]} The private premium is $110,405, or 37%. Most of it is tuition: first-year tuition and fees had medians of $42,668 (public, in-state) and $72,689 (private) in 2023–24.^[aamc_fact]

Cost of attendance is the school's full budget: tuition, fees, insurance, books and living costs. It is the published price before grants and scholarships.

Applying costs money too: the 2027 AMCAS application fee is $180 including one school and $48 for each additional school, and standard MCAT registration is $360.^{[aamc_amcas][aamc_mcat]} An applicant sending 20 applications pays $1,092 in AMCAS fees alone, before secondary applications and interview travel.

Federal loan limits from July 2026

From July 1, 2026, new medical students can borrow at most $50,000 a year and $200,000 in total in federal Direct Unsubsidized loans, and Grad PLUS loans are closed to new borrowers.^{[fsa_limits][fr_rule]} Medicine (MD) and osteopathic medicine (DO) are on the Education Department's list of professional degrees, which is what earns the higher $50,000 limit; ordinary graduate programs get $20,500.^[fr_rule] Students already enrolled with a Direct Loan before July 1, 2026 keep the old limits for up to three more years.^[fsa_limits]

*Simple interest at 8.07% on each year's loans from disbursement to six months after graduation, if the whole cost is borrowed. Our arithmetic on AAMC medians.

The gap is new. Before July 2026 a student could cover the whole cost of attendance with Grad PLUS; now the part above $200,000 has to come from scholarships, family, savings, service programs or private loans. The rate on new Direct Unsubsidized loans for graduate and professional students is 8.07% for 2026–27.^[fsa]

Average medical school debt

The median medical graduate of 2025 owed $215,000 in education debt.^{[aamc_afford]} For the class of 2024, 71% of graduates had education debt; among them the median was $205,000 and the mean $212,341, with $200,000 at public and $230,000 at private schools.^[aamc_fact] The same AAMC data show 56% of 2024 graduates owing $200,000 or more and 23% owing $300,000 or more.^[aamc_fact]

Medical school loan repayment

Paying off $215,000 at 8.07% over 10 years costs $2,617 a month if payments start right after medical school. That is a large share of a first-year resident stipend near $68,000, and federal loans can be put in forbearance during residency, which is how the AAMC's own repayment examples are built.^{[aamc_stipend][aamc_fact]} If nothing is paid during a 3-year residency, simple interest adds $52,052 and the 10-year payment rises to $3,189; after a 5-year surgical residency it is $3,535.^{[acgme_fm][acgme_surg]}

On a family physician's mean salary of $255,820, take-home pay is about $15,584 a month after 2026 federal tax and FICA, so the 3-year-residency payment is 20% of it.^{[onet_fm][irs]} The AAMC's own examples show a similar pattern for a $205,000 balance: about $3,100 a month and $372,000 repaid in total after a 3-year residency in forbearance, and about $3,700 a month after 7 years.^[aamc_fact] Income-driven plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness can lower these numbers; the calculator below models a standard fixed payment only.

Is medical school worth the cost?

In pay terms the cost is large but so is the salary: the median non-surgical physician earns $271,090 and the median surgeon $369,540 (BLS, May 2025).^[oews_api] The cost is time as much as money: 4 years of school, then 3 to 9 years of internship and residency according to BLS,^[ooh_phys] and in 2026 only about 93% of U.S. MD and DO seniors matched to a first-year position (93.5% and 93.2%).^[nrmp] Specialty choice drives the payoff: compare anesthesiologist salary, surgeon salary, dermatologist salary and the full list on doctor salary. If a shorter route appeals, see PA school cost.