Any type of higher education is going to be expensive, especially veterinary medicine. For students planning on going into veterinary medicine, the thought of paying for tuition is daunting. The average student will finish their DVM with $162,000 in debt accumulated over their entire educational career. Having this amount of debt can be extremely crippling as a young person starting out in the professional world. However, if you plan ahead, work hard, and understand your options then you can help decrease your debt amount substantially and get out of debt faster.

 

How to apply for aid

- Most likely you have already participated in the FAFSA as an undergraduate student, but if not you will need to apply for a Personal Identification Number (PIN) at www.pin.ed.gov. This PIN will be used in your completion of the FAFSA.

- Once you have your PIN, you need to fill out the FAFSA for the coming academic year between January and March (as this is the deadline for maximal consideration for awards).

- Make sure that you release your FAFSA to your designated schools that you are applying to by including their school code in the appropriate place.

- It is a good idea to include your parent’s information, even if you are independent of them because their information is mandatory for certain awards and can help you in securing additional assistance.

- Once you have submitted the FAFSA, your schools will send you a financial aid package in the spring with the types and amounts of awards and financial aid that you will receive.

 

Types of Aid 

The U.S. Department of Education awards about $150 billion a year in grants, work-study funds, and low-interest loans to more than 15 million students. Federal student aid covers such expenses as tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and transportation. Aid also can help pay for other related expenses, such as a computer and dependent care. There is a lot of help out there, you just need to find it and meet the requirements. There are three major types of aid out there:

 

1. Loans - this is borrowed money for college or career school that you must repay with interest in a certain amount of time. Most professional students are going to get financial aid in the form of loans through the FAFSA.

 

2. Scholarships and Grants - these are financial aid awards that don’t need to be repaid and are generally based on financial need or merit.

 

3. Work-studies - this is a work program through which you can earn money to help you pay for school that is funded by the government.

 

Scholarships and grants are the best type of aid for students as they generally do not have to be repaid. However, these awards are generally very competitive as they are based upon financial aid or merit. Scholarships/grants are also especially limited for professional students as compared to undergraduate students as we are expected to be able to pay back our loans with our salaries after we graduate. The reality of this profession makes this difficult because tuition has steadily increased over the years but veterinary salaries have not. Finding and competing for scholarships and grants can be a tough process, but any "free money" is worth the effort because it will help decrease your loans. The average students is going to have a lot of loans and there is really very little way of getting around that. Veterinary school is extremely expensive and borrowing money is one of the only ways to pay for it. You must be prepared for this reality and have a solid plan for repayment. There is a third option in which you could get a job or work-study during veterinary school, but I suggest agains this for at least your first year and this will be discussed more underneath the work-study page.  

 

Tax Credits = another way to save money is through tax credits for higher education expenses. There are three tax credits that help offset the costs of college by reducing the amount of your income tax. 

- American Opportunity Credit = this allows you to claim up to $2,500 per student per year for the first four years of school as the students works towards are degree.

- Lifetime Learning Credit = this allows you to claim up to $2,000 per student per year for any college or career school tuition and fees that wre required for the course and had to be purchased from the school. 

- You can take a tax deduction for the interest paid on student loans with a maximum deduction of $2,500 per year.

 

Paying for veterinary school is a daunting challenge, but you have already made great strides towards creating a plan by looking through the funding section of this website. There is a lot of information here, online, from friends and family, and your university that you will utilize to make the best decisions for your future and circumstances. There are a lot of different payment options out there, so no matter what you will be able to pay for your education, it just depends on which route you take. Research your options, talk with others, and plan for the future.