Average Medical School Debt [2026]: Student Loan Statistics

Report Highlights. The average medical school debt balance in 2026 is $227,514 among new indebted graduates.

Including undergraduate debt, medical school graduates owe approximately $257,514.
74% of practicing physicians borrowed to attend medical school; 32% of them still owe more than $250,000.
64.4% of 2026 medical school graduates have education loan debt; 28.3% have premedical educational debt.
The average indebted medical school graduate owes 2.26 times as much in federal loans as the average postgraduate borrower.
57.7% of 2026 medical graduates intend to pursue federal student loan forgiveness.

Medical schools in this report are within the United States except where otherwise noted.

Medical School Debt Statistics

Between medical school and undergraduate study, physicians must pay for eight (8) years of postsecondary education before they can work as doctors.

Among those with medical school debt, the Class of 2025 owed an average of $223,130.
85% of indebted medical school graduates of the Class of 2025 had education debt of at least $100,000 (including undergraduate loans).
Among the indebted of Class of 2025, 28% owed $300,000 or more in total education debt.
31% of the medical school Class of 2025 owed between $200,000 and $300,000 in educational debt on graduation.
Excluding undergraduate debt, 66% of 2025 medical school graduates had outstanding education loans.

Actively Practicing Physicians with Medical School Debt
Current Medical School Debt	2019	2024
$25K or less	5%	4%
$25,001-$50K	7%	5%
$50,001-$100K	9%	1%
$100,001-$150K	12%	15%
$150,001-$200K	14%	2%
$200,001-$250K	11%	17%
Over $250K	43%	32%

Historical Medical School Debt

The average medical graduate’s debt rate outpaces the inflation of academic costs, which in turn outpaces economic inflation.

The average medical school debt increased 1,553% between 1978 and 2026, outpacing currency inflation by 277.2%.
In 1978, the average medical school debt in the U.S. was $13,500, which is equivalent to $69,072 in June 2026.
The share of medical school graduates with education debt declined 19.5% between 2008 and 2025 (from 87% to 70%).
Between 1978 and 2008, the share of medical school graduates with education debt increased 20.8% (from 72% to 87%).

Public vs. Private Medical School Debt

The cost of attendance for a private medical school is higher than public medical school. The rate of the debt increase, however, is not equal to the increased cost of attendance.

Among the Class of 2025, 21% of public and 39% of private medical school graduates owed over $300,000 in total education debt (including undergraduate debt).
72% of public medical school graduates of 2025 left school with student loan debt.
$210,147 was the average debt among 2025 public medical school graduates who borrowed for college.
Among private medical school graduates of 2025, 67% had student debt.
$244,964 was the average debt among 2025 private medical school graduates who borrowed.

Medical School Debt Repayment

The federal government recommends repaying student loans on a 10-year timeline; most borrowers cannot manage this.

31% of practicing physicians have repaid their medical school debt.
41% of physicians expect to pay off their existing medical school debt in the next five (5) years.
30% of physicians expect to take over 10 years to pay off their medical school debt.
Federal grad PLUS loans have an 9.07% interest rate for AY 20256-27.
With a 9.07% interest rate, a federal student loan borrower could pay off $200,000 in 10 years with monthly payments of $2,762.
With 10 years of payments at 9.07%, a student borrower with $200,000 in debt ultimately pays $310,290; interest payments represent 32.7% of this total.
Among the 64.9% of 2026 medical graduates intending to pursue student loan forgiveness, most (88.9%) will apply for federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

Debt & Pursuit of Forgiveness Among Medical School Graduates
Graduation Year	Share with Educational Debt	Share Intending to Pursue Loan Forgiveness
2026	67.8%	64.9%
2025	70.0%	65.1%
2024	70.8%	62.7%
2023	70.6%	56.0%
2022	71.1%	49.0%
2021	72.8%	46.7%

Effects of Medical School Debt

The number of low-income students attending medical school is in decline; this trend is expected to continue with new federal borrowing restrictions and contribute to the growing doctor shortage.

25.3% of 2026 medical school graduates reported that their education debt had a strong-to-moderate influence on their choice in specialty.
50.3% of 2026 medical graduates did not consider their level of debt when choosing a specialty.
Among students entering medical school in 2025, 77.4% said their ability to pay off debt is a major concern.
9.4% of students entering medical school in 2025 were unconcerned about their ability to repay education loans.
Among second-year medical students in 2025, 72.4% said their ability to pay off debt is a major concern.
14.9% of 2025 second-year medical students were unconcerned about their ability to repay loans.

Medical School Debt Demographics

Few surveys of medical student borrower demographics exist.

Among practicing physicians, 46% of males and 38% of females owe more than $250,000 in medical school debt.
Pediatric specialists and pediatricians are the most likely to have or have had student loan debt (86% and 84%, respectively).
84% of physicians in emergency medicine have or once had student loan debt.
Black or African American students entering medical school in 2018 were the most likely among surveyed ethnoracial categories to have premedical debt (59.2%.)
Asian students were the least likely ethnoracial group to enter medical school in 2018 with premedical debt (23.0%).
13.9% of non-citizen and non-permanent resident students entered medical school in 2018 with zero education debt.

Medical Graduates & Other Debt

A minority share of medical school graduates have debt beyond education loans. Residency and relocation loans are considered consumer debt.

17.9% of 2026 medical school graduates had consumer debt, such as car loans, mortgages, or credit card debt.
Among those indebted medical school graduates, the median debt balance was $15,000.
10.8% of 2026 medical graduates had less than $25,000 in consumer debt.
Among 2026 medical school graduates with credit card debt, the median balance was $5,300.
2026 medical school graduates with mortgage debt owed a median balance of $210,000.

Medical Graduate Educational Debt by Institution
Medical School	% Receiving Aid	Average Graduate Indebtedness
Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama	86%	$165,079
University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine	82%	$183,078
Alice L. Walton School of Medicine	0%	$0
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine	85%	$223,097
Arizona State University School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering (SOMME)	0%	$0
University of Arizona College of Medicine	90%	$205,044
University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix	89%	$176,617
California Northstate University College of Medicine	83%	$208,082
California University of Science and Medicine-School of Medicine	83%	$84,439
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science College of Medicine	98%	$0
Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine	100%	$7,547
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California	77%	$257,137
Loma Linda University School of Medicine	89%	$241,901
Stanford University School of Medicine	66%	$69,097
University of California, Davis, School of Medicine	98%	$157,975
University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine	95%	$179,945
University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine	94%	$149,174
University of California, Riverside School of Medicine	92%	$217,416
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine	85%	$163,679
University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine	88%	$105,406
University of Colorado School of Medicine	83%	$218,292
Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University	84%	$217,698
University of Connecticut School of Medicine	77%	$170,321
Yale School of Medicine	74%	$102,059
George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences	70%	$254,796
Georgetown University School of Medicine	64%	$248,805
Howard University College of Medicine	88%	$207,024
Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University	80%	$185,937
Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine	87%	$200,349
Florida State University College of Medicine	82%	$169,600
Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine	92%	$309,684
University of Central Florida College of Medicine	100%	$170,514
University of Florida College of Medicine	87%	$187,086
University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine	80%	$249,498
USF Health Morsani College of Medicine	88%	$194,099
Emory University School of Medicine	66%	$219,605
Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University	72%	$168,146
Mercer University School of Medicine	86%	$186,974
Morehouse School of Medicine	94%	$208,730
University of Georgia School of Medicine	0%	$0
University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine	93%	$147,702
University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine	88%	$179,719
Carle Illinois College of Medicine	94%	$192,737
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science	83%	$303,611
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine	89%	$229,028
Northwestern University The Feinberg School of Medicine	81%	$212,636
Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center	81%	$291,751
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine	84%	$239,058
University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences The Pritzker School of Medicine	93%	$114,238
University of Illinois College of Medicine	80%	$254,019
Indiana University School of Medicine	96%	$213,294
University of Kansas School of Medicine	96%	$185,036
University of Kentucky College of Medicine	87%	$220,212
University of Louisville School of Medicine	89%	$240,849
Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans	79%	$233,571
Louisiana State University School of Medicine in Shreveport	86%	$200,754
Tulane University School of Medicine	67%	$336,884
Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine	82%	$212,435
Harvard Medical School	74%	$119,656
Tufts University School of Medicine	69%	$239,227
University of Massachusetts T.H. Chan School of Medicine	72%	$202,963
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine	83%	$85,418
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine	0%	$0
University of Maryland School of Medicine	76%	$194,370
Central Michigan University College of Medicine	84%	$234,320
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine	91%	$263,084
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine	86%	$201,577
University of Michigan Medical School	81%	$156,860
Wayne State University School of Medicine	87%	$150,362
Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine	99%	$273,096
Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine	94%	$131,334
University of Minnesota Medical School	89%	$197,321
Saint Louis University School of Medicine	78%	$245,066
University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine	92%	$199,792
University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine	78%	$188,969
Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine	87%	$102,548
University of Mississippi School of Medicine	85%	$174,047
Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University	89%	$135,349
Duke University School of Medicine	79%	$158,686
Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine	0%	$0
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine	92%	$154,057
Wake Forest University School of Medicine	74%	$250,038
University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences	98%	$198,283
Creighton University School of Medicine	80%	$268,393
University of Nebraska College of Medicine	96%	$198,986
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth	75%	$206,863
Cooper Medical School of Rowan University	82%	$209,178
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine	80%	$247,297
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School	75%	$229,587
Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School	71%	$215,294
University of New Mexico School of Medicine	85%	$140,767
Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV	89%	$214,238
Roseman University College of Medicine	0%	$0
University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine	94%	$193,060
Albany Medical College	79%	$208,522
Albert Einstein College of Medicine	98%	$175,137
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons	89%	$104,024
CUNY School of Medicine	86%	$218,695
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell	88%	$157,418
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai	67%	$179,556
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo	80%	$236,321
New York Medical College	72%	$279,440
NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine	100%	$51,990
NYU Grossman School of Medicine	100%	$72,483
Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University	66%	$234,570
State University of New York Upstate Medical University Alan and Marlene Norton College of Medicine	79%	$242,050
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University College of Medicine	82%	$151,376
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry	81%	$218,501
Weill Cornell Medicine	75%	$137,683
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine	77%	$228,497
Northeast Ohio Medical University	77%	$265,539
Ohio State University College of Medicine	88%	$182,316
The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences	82%	$229,627
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine	77%	$198,518
Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine	79%	$235,147
University of Oklahoma College of Medicine	84%	$193,398
Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine	99%	$232,316
Drexel University College of Medicine	79%	$292,014
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine	90%	$240,615
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University	86%	$217,240
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine	94%	$212,682
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania	82%	$155,121
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University	75%	$201,670
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine	75%	$209,210
Ponce Health Sciences University School of Medicine	84%	$291,934
San Juan Bautista School of Medicine	74%	$157,285
Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine	87%	$217,626
University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine	76%	$128,498
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University	71%	$170,188
Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine	84%	$201,990
University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia	87%	$225,010
University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville	89%	$193,575
University of South Dakota, Sanford School of Medicine	98%	$182,306
East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine	89%	$231,104
Meharry Medical College	93%	$248,493
Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont University	68%	$0
University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine	84%	$196,508
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine	73%	$182,022
Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at TCU	100%	$245,606
Baylor College of Medicine	70%	$141,570
McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston	66%	$148,238
Texas A&M University School of Medicine	80%	$151,252
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine	85%	$162,459
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine	84%	$156,973
The University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine	100%	$0
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine	76%	$137,917
University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine	100%	$41,752
University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School	87%	$118,846
University of Texas Medical Branch John Sealy School of Medicine	77%	$151,139
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine	92%	$146,219
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School	65%	$164,353
Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah	96%	$186,607
Eastern Virginia Medical School	82%	$227,380
University of Virginia School of Medicine	80%	$160,430
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine	72%	$227,102
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine	100%	$244,481
Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont	88%	$244,645
University of Washington School of Medicine	90%	$222,060
Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine	83%	$217,037
Medical College of Wisconsin	84%	$254,905
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health	94%	$198,773
Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine	89%	$186,271
West Virginia University School of Medicine	84%	$188,123

Medical School Cost of Attendance

Education loans pay for tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and other costs of medical school; these loans do not cover costs associated with residency.

The class of 2026 paid $234,792 to attend the average U.S. medical school, excluding the cost of room and board.
Based on average tuition and fees for a Bachelor of Health Sciences, a typical new med school graduate paid $380,415 to obtain their degree.
Including other costs, such as room and board, the average new medical school graduate pays $491,319 over the course of their education (excluding residency).