Kentucky medical school will freeze tuition for each class

When students enter the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington, they will know exactly what they are paying in tuition for each of their four years.

The school will set a tuition price for the incoming class and charge the students the same amount each year.

The University of Kentucky is believed to be the third medical school to initiate this form of tuition cap, said Jay Perman, MD, dean of the medical college. It is important, he said, because pupils are concerned about medical school debt, and they don't know precisely how big this loan will be by the time they graduate.

The pilot program is a gesture of support but not a solution to growing debt burden, which is becoming a barrier to those considering medicine. The Kentucky program will save in-state students paying $23,752 a year about $11,000 over four years, or about 10% of the $107,110 average debt for UK medical graduates in 2006.

Dr. Perman said the school had been increasing tuition 9% a year and likely would make similar hikes for each entering class. The school will re-evaluate the pilot in four years.

Current medical students also will benefit, school officials said, with each class having their tuition frozen for their remaining years.

Jenny Olges, a second-year medical student, will graduate with $100,000 in loans. "It gives us some peace of mind on what our tuition is going to be. The difficult part before was not knowing year to year how much the tuition was going to go up," Olges said.

AMA board Trustee Chris DeRienzo, who is starting his fourth year at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C., said the promise of predictable tuition costs is a welcome respite for most medical students.

"I have a friend in New York whose tuition doubled by the time he graduated," DeRienzo said. "This is one innovative way to at least allow students to plan for that debt and know next year they won't have to take out another $8,000 just to pay the bills."

DeRienzo will have $150,000 in loans when he graduates and plans to look for a debt forgiveness program, such as the National Health Service Corps, to help him achieve his dream of becoming a rural pediatrician.

The University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis capped tuition for incoming students three years ago. Washington University of St. Louis, a private school, did the same more than 10 years ago.

Deborah Powell, MD, dean of the Minnesota medical school, said that when she initiated a tuition cap, her school had the highest tuition among public medical schools. "It was not where I wanted to be No. 1," she said.

University of Minnesota students pay a flat rate for their medical degree, whether they complete their studies in three and a half years or take longer than the typical four years.

Regardless of where future doctors get their medical education, the cost is rising faster than doctors' incomes, Dr. Powell said. She worries that because of this, qualified individuals from less economically advantaged backgrounds will shy away from medicine.

"Doctors make a lot of money relative to the population but not relative to other high-paying careers," Dr. Powell said. "I want to ensure that we have a wonderfully diverse physician work force."