Why does Pennsylvania have extra cash?
- Thread starter Bryan330i
- Start date
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jrt67ss350 said:
When I graduate in 2007, I'll be nearly $160,000 in debt (not including interest) for my MD degree. ![[xx(]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_dead.gif "Dead [xx(]")
Yeah, I'm at Wake Forest. Are you at Vandy? I loved Vandy's med school - amazing school and hospital. I got wait listed at Vandy and would have gone there, but by the time they got back to me, I had already started at Wake. I don't have much debt from undergrad (basically had scholarships that paid for all of my tuition - the debt I have is basically from room and board for 4 years, and my parents are covering that). Funny thing is that Wake Med gave me some scholarships, but the two state med schools in my home state of SC didn't give me a cent. It basically ended up only costing a couple thousand dollars more per year to go to Wake over one of the SC state schools. A couple thousand per year is insignificant when you are borrowing as much as I am, and I am without a doubt getting an exponentially better education here.
Ready for some bad news? Historically, med school loans have been written at a fixed interest rate when you consolidate upon graduation. There is serious discussion to move to a variable rate (probably a prime plus scheme) loan. Med School loans are subsidized by the Federal Goverment so that low interest rates don't scare away investors, and med students don't get scared away by high interest & incredible debt. But now the government is getting scared because in recent years rates are under 4%. (If I recall correctly, my wife's loan is around 3.7% or so).
If/when interest rates go up, the government will have to cough up the difference to keep the investors in the market. So, in the future, they want to make them variable rate and let the borrowers pay more, which defeats the whole purpose of the subsidy to begin with!
If/when interest rates go up, the government will have to cough up the difference to keep the investors in the market. So, in the future, they want to make them variable rate and let the borrowers pay more, which defeats the whole purpose of the subsidy to begin with!
Yeah, figures. They'll probably enact it right before I graduate and consolidate. My girlfriend (currently in optometry school) also has Stafford loans, so consolidation is definitely something we will need to be doing in order to be able to afford to live (we both will be graduating at the exact same time). I don't think the govt. does nearly enough for helping students finance their higher education in this country, so I'm not surprised that they would change the way it works and support students even less. Wonderful.