Debt for graduate students in the Dell Medical School amounted to half the national average in 2023, according to a report released earlier this month from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Medical students graduating in the United States had an average debt of almost $207,000, while the average debt for Dell Medical students was roughly $103,000, according to a press release. The lower debt can be attributed to students accepting scholarships offered by the school or external sources, such as Texas Medical Association or Travis County Medical Society, said Travis Crook, associate dean of student affairs for Dell Medical School.
According to the announcement, Dell Med students have received more than $9.5 million in scholarships. Crook said Dell Med’s financial aid manager has a strong relationship with students and works to help them graduate in the best financial situation possible.
“I’ve had three different students in the first year class tell me that scholarships were one of the driving reasons why they came to Dell Med,” Crook said. “One student particularly told me that they picked Dell Med over Harvard because of the scholarships.”
Ryan Quinn, a first-year medical student, said he took out loans to pay for his tuition because most scholarships were not tailored to fit his circumstances. However, he said tuition cost did not influence his decision to attend Dell Med since most medical schools in Texas cost approximately the same. Tuition for the 2024-25 academic year at Dell Med costs $21,087 for Texas residents, according to Texas One Stop.
“(Loan rates are) so low compared to most medical schools that I can’t really complain,” Quinn said. “Medical school in general is expensive, but if there’s any sort of school worth it, it’s going to be medical school.”
Crook said the school hopes to accommodate for future financial curves, such as cost of living and housing, in order to aid Dell Med students.
“We’re not trying to help our students dig out of debt,” Crook said. “We’re helping them prevent debt in the first place.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story referred to the Travis County Medical Society as the Charles County Medical Society. The Texan regrets this error.
