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5 Types of Vet Schools Ranked By How Much They Destroy Your Finances

Isn’t it amazing how you can have two veterinarians that went to different schools and one might owe $150,000 while the other owes $400,000? According to the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC), the average cost of vet school continues to be around $150k,000. Vet schools have wildly varying costs and a different application process for each one, and they don’t do a good job of explaining how much debt you could leave with once you graduate.

From my experience, there are five major categories of vet schools ranked by how much they destroy your finances post-graduation. These are low-cost in-state public, moderate cost in-state public, out-of-state public, private, and for-profit colleges. Can you afford to be a veterinarian? Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), states that veterinarians earn a median pay of $99, 250 each year.

While there is some difference in educational quality across institutions, I think we can agree it’s not hundreds of thousands of dollars worth. Read on to learn more about DVM program costs at public schools and private school options.

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The Best Value: In-State, Low-Cost Veterinary Schools

If you wanted to know who comes out of getting a veterinary school education the most financially secure, it’s DVM students who are lucky enough to get into a low-cost public university and pay in-state tuition.

Despite the narrative of runaway debt, there are some spots out there that either have great financial support from their state legislatures, have done a fantastic job at controlling costs related to doctorate programs, or both.

This collection of veterinary schools gives you a low enough debt load to have a hope of paying everything back one day based on a typical $70,000 to $80,000 veterinary salary.

School

Cost of Attendance

 Estimate for 4 Years

Purdue University

$149,540

University of Georgia

$156,000

North Carolina University

$156,800

Oklahoma State University

$158,800

Schools like the University of Georgia charge relatively low tuition compared to their peers AND they’re located in low-cost areas. That helps a lot since most vet students borrow for living expenses too as part of their financial need.

If you happened to live with roommates and watch your food budget like a hawk, then you could come out owing even less than some of the numbers above. Especially if you score external scholarships or get a work-study stipend.

With a 10-year refinancing, you’d be paying about $1,500 a month for 10 years. If you wanted to get out of student loan debt in five years or less, you’d pay around $3,000 a month. While those numbers are certainly not pleasant, they also represent something that’s possible for a young veterinarian.

If a prospective applicant asked me if it was financially responsible to go to an in-state school that charged less than $25,000 a year in full tuition, I’d reply with an emphatic yes. You can easily get federal student aid to cover and manage costs.

Tolerable: In-State, Modest Cost Veterinary Schools

These schools' tuition costs will most likely leave you pursuing a student loan forgiveness path, especially if you stay single or marry someone with a low income or high student debt.

The reason is when financing your veterinary medical education, you’ll leave school with a burden more than two times your starting salary if you borrow for the entire cost vs reward of veterinary school. That balance will continue to grow when you're a disillusioned veterinary school graduate. Even if you gain substantial bonus income from doing procedures, you will probably not have your veterinarian debt to income ratio drop below two.

That means using Pay As You Earn (PAYE) or Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE), formerly REPAYE, is probably your best option.

School

Cost of Attendance

 Estimate for 4 Years

University of Florida

$215,000

University of Minnesota

$215,678

Ohio State University

$230,903

University of California, Davis

$241,000

This category of vet school is the last that leaves you with options to get out of debt if you really want to badly enough. If you owe $250,000, then your 10-year monthly payment would be around $2,500.

While that’s a lot, it’s possible. Five-year repayment options begin to look impractical in this category because you’d have to pick up a bunch of relief work or get some awesome quarterly bonuses in order to have something left over to live on.

Once your yearly tuition goes above $25,000 a year with additional costs, I would begin to tell someone that you better love veterinary medicine because the financial part of the decision is more challenging with the higher debt.

Same Education, More Money: Out of State Public College of Veterinary Medicine Schools

can you afford to be a veterinarian student loan planner

Unless your passion for veterinary medicine is so great that you can’t imagine doing anything else (or you’re expecting a monster inheritance from grandma), this is where the math really starts getting tough. If eligibility permits, getting funding from a scholarship committee or outside resources can help.

Colleges of Veterinary Medicine love taking out of state students because the profit margin is so high. While it’s true that in-state students have some support coming from their state legislature that offsets their tuition, that support is not equal to the difference in the price for in state and out of state non-residents.

Consider the University of Illinois. I estimate about $202,000 for the cost of attendance for four years if you go in-state. If you’re out of state, that estimate jumps to about $286,000 because of their $21,000 annual surcharge.

Another example would be Kansas State University. My estimate for in state debt burden is about $169,000 for coursework and education costs. If you came from out of state? It jumps to $283,000. The price difference is huge for the same coursework and studying anatomy, treatment of disease, and more.

With the debt load that you’ll leave with as an out of state veterinary student, you will almost certainly need to orient your finances on optimizing the federal student loan programs. That’s something we specialize in, so feel free to contact us if that’s you.

How Can Private Veterinary Schools Charge This?

financing your veterinary medical education student loan planner

Nobody is questioning the quality of the education at private vet schools. In fact, some of the research that’s being done at places like Penn Vet Med is mind-blowingly important.

The problem is that lack of a state body like a legislature providing support (or political pressure or federal regulations) to keep prices reasonable causes tuition to soar.

It’s my suspicion that private colleges of vet med have more of a focus on their research mission than on their educational mission. Hence, if you can get away with charging more tuition because of a federal system that gives a blank check to universities (no federal caps on graduate lending), why not do it and subsidize your research?

Unless your family is rich, there is almost zero chance you will be able to get out of debt without using a federal program to manage your loans for 20 years or more. That means applying for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), taking on financial aid like federal loans. You're lucky if you can score some scholarships.

Private CVM tuition is mostly financed with Grad Plus loans, which are for graduate students and carry an origination fee of over 4%. The loans continue to grow while you’re still in school, so the numbers I’m showing you as an example are almost certainly lower than what you’d actually leave with.

From my experience with clients, this is also the case. The median Penn vet I work with has about $380,000 of vet school debt for example.

What’s challenging about private vet schools is that they often carry higher living expenses due to their location.

Tufts College of Veterinary Medicine is in the Boston metro area. Penn College of Veterinary Medicine is in Philly. Western University of Health Sciences Vet Med is in Southern California, Pomona specifically. Use any cost comparison tool for cost of living and see how this adds to the cost.

Not only do you get hit with the higher vet school cost, but you also pay up on the higher rent, food costs, entertainment, transportation (in the form of higher car insurance), and more. Your financial resources are spread thin.

Regardless of your balance after leaving a private vet school with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree, you still have hope for a solid financial future using the income-driven repayment programs appropriately.

School

Cost of Attendance

 Estimate for 4 Years

Western University of Health Sciences

$297,744

Tufts University

$308,700

University of Pennsylvania

$323,792

Midwestern University

$372,396

Out for Profit: Caribbean Veterinary Schools

veterinarian debt to income ratio student loan planner

If you don’t get into a low-cost in-state program, and you don’t want to wait until the next cycle, many students apply to St. George's University and Ross University in the Caribbean.

Some St. George’s grads let me know that one reason they went there is that the vet school cost looked to be cheaper than the comparable cost at an out-of-state program.

The sticker prices that I could find on their websites would suggest this as well, with about $271,000 for St. George’s and $325,000 for Ross University.

For some reason though, when I run into clients from these schools who pursue veterinary science in my consulting business, the balances always seem to be way higher than they’re “supposed to be.” Veterinarians are smothered in debt.

The big distinction between these schools and those in the earlier four categories is that Caribbean schools are for profit. Someone outside of the Caribbean islands these schools are located in is making a killing off charging the students high prices for their education.

I’ve seen multiple cases of Ross grads who owe over $500,000 for a veterinary degree. Many of the St. George’s grads that I’ve spoken with have owed over $400,000.

In my opinion, if your only option to be a veterinarian is one of these schools, make sure there’s nothing else in the world you could do that would make you happy. Because of the for-profit nature of the institution, I wouldn’t be shocked if there were massive tuition increases each year you attend.

The faculty and professors still care and want you to have a good education, but the conflict of interest created by the ownership structure would make me wary of attending one of these schools.

What Was Your Experience in Vet School?

Did you come out owing what you thought you would? What advice would you give to current applicants to vet school on what to look out for when trying to make a decision on where to go?

If you have over $100,000 of vet school debt and want a plan for it, just reach out and we can tell you how our service works to see if it’s a good fit for you. Wondering how to reduce vet school debt?

The good news is no matter how much debt you have, there’s a way to manage your money wisely where you can afford retirement, owning a home, taking nice vacations, etc. The path is just narrower the more debt you have.

If you're serious about regaining control of your debt and paying it off sooner, please schedule a consult with our team.

Comments

  1. Greg February 7, 2018 at 7:30 PM
    Reply

    Great analysis! This info needs to find a way to be disseminated among applicants….many are not aware of discrepancies in tuition cost, living costs and what the subsequent financing impact is for say a 10 year loan repayment option. One question; are the numbers above inclusive of the average cost of living or do they only represent tuition + fees.

    • Travis February 7, 2018 at 7:32 PM
      Reply

      It includes cost of living, but what I’ve found is vets typically leave school with more debt than the sticker price, and that’s for folks who are recent grads who were operating under an even lower stated cost of attendance. That cost almost always leaves out the big Grad Plus origination fees, accrued interest, and future tuition increases while you’re in school. Glad you liked it Greg

  2. Bridget October 16, 2018 at 8:38 PM
    Reply

    My son went to Ross University. He owes 400,000. He figures he will never be out of debt. Sad thing is a lot of his clients think he’s rich because of the degree. They don’t consider the amount of money it costs to have that degree. No wonder this profession has one of the highest ratings for suicide. The job itself is stressful than add the debt. It’s sad

    • Travis Hornsby October 17, 2018 at 8:20 PM
      Reply

      I know it’s a big misconception out there that folks like your son are in it for the money. If people only knew how totally untrue that is.

  3. Joe October 28, 2018 at 4:48 AM
    Reply

    My daughter is in the process of applying and interviewing for the 2019 fall class. She has been accepted to Ross and interviewed at St George and Western. She is also scheduled to interview with Univ of Glasgow. US schools interview announcements come out in December. We have invested $150K in undergrad education, so doesn’t it make sense to see it through even if it costs another $300K. Obviously, lower cost is ideal, but anything less than $200K is unlikely unless you are in-state for one of those lower cost schools (which we are not). How realistic is loan forgiveness. I have heard some recent grads seriously considering not paying their loans off and hoping they get forgiven?

    • Travis Hornsby October 30, 2018 at 6:22 PM
      Reply

      Income driven repayment and loan forgiveness either directly or indirectly will always be a thing the only question is how generous or not generous it will be. I would personally not want a family member to go to one of the higher cost schools, but obviously our business is helping folks figure out how to know all their options once they already have the monster debt. If she already has 150k from undergrad and really wants to be a vet, then I would probably plan on using a program like PAYE or REPAYE and paying for 20-25 years after graduation. It also has implications for whom you would marry because it sometimes can include the spouse’s income.

  4. Carlos Leal December 24, 2018 at 11:53 PM
    Reply

    Travis, my daughter is graduating with a degree in animal science from UPR- Mayaguez Puerto Rico. Can she move to Florida or any other state with a public veterinary school for a year in order to pay in state tuition?
    Thanks, Carlos

    • Travis Hornsby December 25, 2018 at 4:49 PM
      Reply

      Depends on the state Carlos, but I think the rules are state specific. As long as she’s a legal resident when she applies, I’ve got to think that she’d be ok for getting the in state tuition rate. Keep in mind that many veterinarians these days will need to use income driven repayment programs to pay their loans regardless of whether the debt is 180k or 380k. Something to consider.

  5. Carlos January 12, 2019 at 12:08 PM
    Reply

    I am a DACA recepient and this means I can’t get federal loans. I also live in Cali where some of the more expensive vet universities are at. I was wondering what you would advise me. See I am conflicted. I want to go to veterinary school but I don’t see it financially wise to do so. I sacrificed so much to get this far but the closer I get to graduation the more I look into it and the more my doubts seep in. What would be my predicted private loan amount If for example I would to Western or Davis? What should I expect for private loans and do all private loans require a copy signer?

    • Travis Hornsby January 14, 2019 at 2:27 AM
      Reply

      Wow that’s a really interesting scenario. Sorry to hear what you’re going through. I would in no way shape or form take any private loans to go to vet school. The payoff is simply not there. If you’re taking out federal loans you can make it work. However, if you take out private loans you could have to pay as much as 40% of your after tax income to debt after school. You’re far better off financially working in a field that won’t put you in that situation based on the rules that are around right now. If something changes where you could get federal student loans, then it’s not as daunting.

      • Carlos February 2, 2019 at 12:02 AM
        Reply

        Sorry for all the typos in my previous message just noticed them. I was running late for class when I wrote it. Thank you so much for this reply I think this will help in my ultimate decision.

  6. Jordan January 31, 2019 at 6:55 PM
    Reply

    Hi Travis – really informative article, thanks! I have been accepted to a few vet schools for fall 2019, and I am still waiting to hear back from a couple.
    You stated the average salary of a GP veterinarian to be $70-$80k. I’m wondering how specializing fits into this. I am considering specializing, which requires 1 yr paid internship after graduation followed by a 3 yr paid residency (note they are not well paid). What is your take on specializing? Is it worth it in the long run as you bring in more income? Thank you!

    • Travis Hornsby January 31, 2019 at 9:11 PM
      Reply

      Veterinary surgeons I’ve advised have made anywhere from low six figures if they’re academic to low 200k range if they’re in private practice. Perhaps 150k to 180k is typical. I think you can do just as well owning your own practice as a generalist but if you want to make a lot of money as an employee it’s probably a good idea to specialize.

  7. kay February 8, 2019 at 7:27 AM
    Reply

    Interesting article, Travis. As tough as new grads have it, the good news is that there are abundant jobs available to them. I have been a veterinarian for nearly 20 years and cannot think of a profession that is more rewarding. Yes, it is a very difficult and demanding profession, the daily highs and lows are emotionally exhausting, and without boundaries, you can become consumed by your work. The personal satisfaction achieved by this profession far outweighs the grind of veterinary school and the expense involved in an advanced degree. Travis, can you expand on your suicide comment and how it relates to our field? Have you come across studies that are showing this number to be increasing, and perhaps related to the debt ratio trend? Or has that been a steady number, related to the sheer stress of our profession? Practicing in the Chicago area, I’m surprised I have never heard of this statistic, or known anyone in this awful situation.

    • Travis Hornsby February 8, 2019 at 3:14 PM
      Reply

      That’s a great question. I actually don’t have scientific evidence of the trend increasing or decreasing. Certainly the number has increased because the number of vets has been going up, but I don’t know about the percentage. My evidence for the relation of suicidal thoughts to debt is anecdotal from the emails I receive. It’s likely a compounding factor rather than being the main reason. I think the stress is the primary factor.

  8. Cathy February 12, 2019 at 8:38 PM
    Reply

    Good article. My daughter will be going to an out of state public school that has a COA of $230,000 (tuition $150,000). Luckily she pooled money with her brothers before undergrad and bought a condo for $35,000 in a city 10 minutes from two universities. That condo is likely to sell for $150,000 this spring. And the plan is to buy a house or condo close to the school she is going to and rent out two rooms. Here first year tuition is $60,000 (it will be $27,000 a year after because she can become a resident after the first year.) She has $30,000 in the bank. So, she plans on taking out a $40,000 the first year. After 8 months of rental payment she can get a bank loan for the condo or house. Would a mortgage be better than a student loan. And what type of student loan should she get.

    • Travis Hornsby February 12, 2019 at 9:06 PM
      Reply

      I’d be careful about taking out more than 40k per year otherwise you have to take out Grad PLUS loans which have much higher rates and fees. That sounds like a great approach to minimize debt. I would try to avoid private loans as well and keep it federal only.

  9. Tina Johnston February 16, 2019 at 12:41 AM
    Reply

    Travis,
    My daughter was accepted to University of Guelph for a 4 year degree and also London Vet School for a 5 year degree. She is struggling to make a decision on which one to go to. Guelph is a very small town and London may hold more opportunities. However, that extra year of tuition and schooling is making the decision very difficult. She has no student loans since she went to UC Davis on an athletic scholarship. Which option would you recommend?

    • Travis Hornsby February 16, 2019 at 12:55 AM
      Reply

      The overseas ones will probably put her in 400k to 500k of student loan debt. That’s something to weigh long and hard before attending.

      • Alexis February 17, 2019 at 12:52 AM
        Reply

        The tuition at ontario veterinary college is 200,000 USD for 4 years and tuition at Royal Veterinary College is 225,000 for 5 years were 3 of those years is in a very rural area that is cheap to live. Do you really think that cost of living will amount to another 200,000-300,000 in the end?

        • Travis Hornsby February 18, 2019 at 2:06 PM
          Reply

          Well you’re leaving out accrued interest, tuition inflation, and origination fees. Cost of living is probably at least 30k per year, so 225+120 = 345. Then multiply by 1.27 (my historical estimate) for the impact of those hidden charges I mentioned, and you’re looking at $438,000 in that case for Royal Veterinary College

  10. Lizbeth Rojas March 26, 2019 at 1:18 PM
    Reply

    Hi Travis, I want to go become a veterinarian but there aren’t many good schools in Texas. My plan was to either hopefully be immediately accepted into A&M or go to Sam House/Texas State then go to A&M but both options seem to be extremely expensive. I’m not sure what to do or what college to go to.

    • Travis Hornsby March 26, 2019 at 3:09 PM
      Reply

      I would try to get into A&M. I say that simply because not as many of their grads contact us for our services so I know they must be producing grads with less debt than some schools.

  11. Alex March 30, 2019 at 10:29 PM
    Reply

    Hello Travis,
    I recently got accepted to LSU as an out of state student so my tuition and fees will be around 56,000 a year. However, my parents will be covering cost of living and housing and all other expenses, so I basically only have tuition and fees. What do you consider my debt situation will be because of their help?

    • Travis Hornsby March 30, 2019 at 11:31 PM
      Reply

      You’ll owe enough that forgiveness will likely be the best path, so honestly I would think about taking out debt to cover living expenses and using their funds to build up a fund to cover the tax bomb instead. We have a pre debt consult by the way that covers this https://calendly.com/studentloanplanner-team/pre-debt-consult

  12. Frances J. Collier, VMD June 24, 2019 at 12:16 PM
    Reply

    I was graduated from Penn Vet in 1984. I owed only $5,000. Why? Because I worked the whole time. 2 jobs in summers and weekends during the school year. I got a degree in medical technology before vet school and was able to get high paying part-time jobs. This was good planning on my part. Maybe these students need a course in reality before they choose a career.

    • Travis Hornsby June 24, 2019 at 9:41 PM
      Reply

      I think it’s a great achievement to come out of any program debt free, especially grad school, but what was tuition for all four years of vet school back in the early 80s? That was a realistic achievement back then today it’d be virtually impossible as the average Penn vet student leaves with over 400k in loans.

  13. Drea July 5, 2019 at 10:33 PM
    Reply

    Great article, I definitely don’t want to rethink trying for this but it definitely makes you question. I will be starting college here in Jamaica for veterinary science associate degree this year and I am super exited I want to finish my journey internally and I know for sure it’s expensive. How will I do this?? I don’t know but I have a bit of time to think smart and start saving towards.

  14. Natalie August 8, 2019 at 11:55 AM
    Reply

    Hi Travis, thanks so much for all the information you provide for current and future veterinarians. I have personally been on the fence about vet school due to the financial constraints. I have a question regarding some of the numbers in this article. Are the cost of attendences reflective of interest here as well? For example when you say you can pay off 150k in 10 yrs paying 1,500 a month, wouldn’t the interest add a whole lot more onto this?
    Thanks!!

    • Travis Hornsby August 8, 2019 at 3:27 PM
      Reply

      Not really because you’ll likely be able to refinance if you only have 150k, so the 1500 a mo payment is already including interest charges. Remember multiplying by 12 gives you a larger amount than by 10.

  15. Mort September 9, 2019 at 8:26 AM
    Reply

    Very informative article. Another point some students may find relevant is that states which don’t have vet schools may contract with states that do for a limited number of seats to pay in-state tuition. While my son went to South Dakota State for undergrad (as an in-state resident), he was also designated in-state at Iowa State vet school for tuition purposes.

    • Travis Hornsby September 9, 2019 at 3:04 PM
      Reply

      Great point. Haven’t seen a huge growth in the number of vet schools compared to some other types of programs

  16. G S Kumar January 31, 2020 at 8:56 PM
    Reply

    Great article and information. My son got accepted at University of Sydney and is also waiting results from Western University – Pomona, CA for the DVM program. He is very keen on doing DVM but is confused whether to go to Sydney or Western.

    • Travis at Student Loan Planner February 2, 2020 at 2:31 PM
      Reply

      Both will be super expensive. I think it depends on what kind of life he wants to have. We have had several US students do a foreign DVM program then meet someone overseas that pay 0 a month because of a loophole about foreign income not being taxed in the US until it’s over 100k. That allows for 0 IBR payments that count towards forgiveness. Western would be fine but just make sure there’s a realistic picture of the amount of debt he could have.

      • G S Kumar February 4, 2020 at 1:03 PM
        Reply

        Thanks for your prompt reply

  17. Peter February 12, 2020 at 8:42 PM
    Reply

    Hi Travis

    Accepted into Univ of Glasgow Vet school for fall 2020. If my folks pay all for my first year, what kind of debt should I anticipate?

  18. Alicia February 21, 2020 at 12:35 PM
    Reply

    Hi Travis,
    Really enjoyed your article. I have been accepted to Washington State University for vet school along with the five year program at RVC. What do you think the difference in cost will be like?

    • Travis at Student Loan Planner February 23, 2020 at 3:59 PM
      Reply

      Probably like 200k vs 400k, depending on if you have in state at Washington State. The international schools always have killer high fees.

  19. Shonna February 23, 2020 at 7:25 PM
    Reply

    Hello Travis
    I’ve recently been accepted to LSUSVM (in-state tuition) and Mizzou. I was wondering how much in debt I would be for both. As much as I want to stay in-state I felt more welcomed and liked Missouri’s school more.

    • Travis at Student Loan Planner February 24, 2020 at 11:32 AM
      Reply

      Id estimate about 350k in debt at graduation at Mizzou (about 30k per year out of state resident fee) and about 200k at LSU if you’re spending a reasonable amount on living expenses. I’d be nice to you too if I could get an extra 150k out of you! Not trying to be mean or anything but I’d only choose Mizzou if you’re rich or if you’re super calm about relying on IDR programs to go for forgiveness on your debt. We have a predebt consult for this if you wanted a more customized answer https://www.studentloanplanner.com/predebt-student-loan-plan/

    • Travis Hornsby February 24, 2020 at 8:44 PM
      Reply

      I’m reporting this Shonna because the school accused my math of being incorrect in another thread. So I thought it would be relevant to post that here for you.

      It appears I was wrong. You could leave with FAR MORE THAN $350,000 of student debt as an out of state student if you financed the entire amount of the education.

      This was my response to the College of Veterinary Medicine below

      >>>>>

      Here’s my math, which you’re free to dispute. The site here https://cvm.missouri.edu/financial-aid/cost-and-tuition/ lists the projected costs for four years of vet school.

      Year 1 $87,121
      Year 2 $87,305
      Year 3 $87,570
      Year 4 $89,596

      Total all four years = $351,592.

      But it’s more than that because that doesn’t account for tuition inflation, loan fees, and accrued interest. So my back of the napkin estimate for accrued interest during school is about $61,000. Loan fees would be about $10,000 (PLUS loans making the majority of the borrowing at about 4.25% origination fee and Stafford at 1% origination fee would be 3% on average.) Tuition increases have happened at Mizzou’s vet school every year. Add an assumed 4% escalation in tuition annually. That adds another $20,000.

      Add all the finance charges together based on your own school’s cost of attendance published on the website, and the total balance a student would graduate with using today’s costs (not the costs for class of 2019 which they can’t borrow at),

      and the grand total would be $443,000. You’re welcome to dispute my math Douglas, but I don’t think I’m wrong here. The only way you’d leave with less than that is if you had family financial support or savings.

      The in state estimate for Mizzou would be $249,000 using this same method. The national college scorecard data for University of Missouri vet school lists the class of 2017 as having a median debt of $153,973 and average debt of $139,100. That implies a lot of students must receive some sort of financial assistance for the average to be skewed below the mean. Since that data reflects the class of 2017, I think it’s fair to say that these metrics would be expected to be at least 20% higher than that.

      • Cathy February 26, 2020 at 12:18 AM
        Reply

        Hi TRAVIS HORNSBY, Mizzou allows you to become an in-state student after the first year. So, you only pay the $87121 the first year then you pay in-state. 100% of the students that apply for in-state get it.
        If you are a married student or if your parents move to Missouri and get a job in Missouri you will pay in-state tuition day one.

        Even with that Mizzou will be a higher cost then in-state LSU.

        • Travis Hornsby February 26, 2020 at 9:00 AM
          Reply

          So if I run the same numbers above adding accrued interest and loan fees which are never disclosed by admissions offices (of any program not just mizzou), then the total amount assuming in state for years 2 to 4 would be about $301,000. I imagine LSU would be around 200 to 250k but haven’t looked closely at it. If I was a student I’d also want something in writing guaranteeing I could get in state status. The amount in that case would actually not be that different bw LSU and Mizzou bc you wouldnt pay that back, you’d use an IDR plan like PAYE and pay for 20 years with a tax bomb in both cases. That said, to paint the picture that a student is going to leave with 100k bc that’s what one of rich students left with is totally inaccurate (another different commenter claimed that).

  20. brian Lumbasi May 24, 2020 at 2:03 PM
    Reply

    I’m a Kenyan student studying a Bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Medicine at University of Nairobi,my long term goal is to specialize in Vet Medicine after my undergraduate degree,how much would that cost and how do you apply for that. My favorite campus for instance would be like Iowa State University

    • Travis Hornsby May 26, 2020 at 8:23 AM
      Reply

      You would need a US based cosigner to get you access to private student loans, which would likely cost 200k to 300k for all four years of vet school

  21. Georgina Chrissanthakopoulos June 18, 2020 at 9:14 AM
    Reply

    Hello,
    I have twin daughters and both have been accepted into RVC and Glasgow university. This will be a direct entry from high school. Therefore, there is no student debt thus far. I have approximately $300,000 cdn saved for their tuition. How, do I go about funding their tuition? Can you give me an approximate difference cost difference between the two schools?

    • Amy at Student Loan Planner July 15, 2020 at 9:00 AM
      Reply

      Your best bet is to visit each school’s website to research cost of attendance. Don’t forget to include tuition price and cost of living increases, and watch for “misc” or “hidden” fees they might have. I’d recommend a pre-debt consult to figure out the best way to fund their education. $300,000 is a lot of money and you want to use it wisely.

  22. Shayna June 19, 2020 at 1:36 PM
    Reply

    Hi I just found your article— I know it’s a little old. Do you have recommendations for veterans using their GI Bill for veterinary school? I won’t be out for another 6 years but plan on attending veterinary school immediately after. I was looking at St George U but after seeing this I’m not so sure. I am from Hawaii where there are no Vet schools so I don’t really have a home state I can choose.

    • Amy at Student Loan Planner June 30, 2020 at 10:12 AM
      Reply

      You can use your GI Bill for vet school, but the training time might be calculated differently than for an undergrad degree. It depends on the program and the school, so that’s just something to watch for when you’re ready to do that.

  23. Natalie Bedford July 14, 2020 at 12:31 AM
    Reply

    Hi! I am most likely attending St. Matthews in the Cayman Islands. Do you know anything about this school or the private loan issues that could come with attending this school? Thanks in advance.

  24. Rafael Velazquez-Ramos March 11, 2021 at 3:58 AM
    Reply

    Hello
    I’m looking at vet school in Mexico, there is one school that is accredited with the US. Have you ever financially advised on this before? Thank you

  25. CATHERINE AGUIRRE March 14, 2021 at 3:34 PM
    Reply

    Loved your article. My daughter was accepted to UCDublin, and SGU Veterinary schools. We are leaning toward Dublin because we feel it will be a better program for her since she is interested in large animal medicine. Can you tell me what we may realistically be looking at for her to attend Dublin for 4 years. I am a single parent and we took out loans for her undergraduate and graduate degrees. The remaining balance on the Parent Plus loans I took out for her is $27,240. The remaining balance on the 5 Direct Subsidized loans she took out is $26,975 (I have made these payments as well but she is currently making payments towards these loans while she is living at home and working attempting to save as much money as possible for Vet School. When she starts school I will once again be making these payments on my own.) It seems that she can take an Unsubsidized loan and either a Graduate Plus or Parent Plus loan to fund her expenses while attending Dublin. Financially I have helped as much as I can but I am not sure that I can help her with the cost of vet school so she will be tackling that debt on her own. I just want her to make the best financial decision as far as vet school is concerned.

    • Amy at Student Loan Planner April 5, 2021 at 1:16 PM
      Reply

      Our pre-debt consult is what you’re looking for. Veterinarians end up with hundreds of thousands in student loans and their income after graduation doesn’t match their debt, so many end up pursuing PSLF. With a pre-debt consult, we can analyze the costs, discuss the best way to finance the cost, and show you what it would look like after you graduate so you don’t have anxiety about your student loans while in school.

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