Characteristics of Medical School Graduates Overall and Among Those With Loans
| Characteristic | All | Type of Loan Received | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perkins/Disadvantaged Student Loans | Health Professions Student Loans | Loans Not Based on Parents’ Income | ||
| Graduates, No. (%) | 136,232 (100) | 42,389 (31.1) | 6,568 (4.8) | 58,309 (42.8) |
| Debt category, % | ||||
| None | 20.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| $1–$50,000 | 17.9 | 10.0 | 12.7 | 32.7 |
| $50,001–$100,000 | 28.6 | 41.0 | 48.9 | 32.8 |
| $100,001–$150,000 | 20.2 | 31.3 | 26.8 | 22.2 |
| $150,001–$200,000 | 7.5 | 11.7 | 8.8 | 8.4 |
| ≥$200,001 | 3.6 | 6.0 | 2.8 | 3.9 |
| Debt amount, $a | ||||
| Mean | 92,689 | 105,407 | 94,135 | 83,281 |
| Median | 85,471 | 97,484 | 87,757 | 73,296 |
| Graduation era, % | ||||
| 1988–1992 | 37.0 | 32.2 | 59.9 | 35.2 |
| 1993–1996 | 33.6 | 34.5 | 35.7 | 32.2 |
| 1997–2000 | 29.4 | 33.3 | 4.4 | 32.7 |
| Demographics | ||||
| Married at graduation, %b | 33.4 | 33.1 | 43.8 | 33.6 |
| Male, % | 60.2 | 58.1 | 61.8 | 60.4 |
| Born in a rural county, % | 0.74 | 0.93 | 1.00 | 0.73 |
| Age at graduation, mean, y | 27.7 | 27.8 | 27.7 | 27.8 |
| Medical school | ||||
| Rural, % | 0.42 | 0.38 | 0.23 | 0.45 |
| Public, % | 62.1 | 67.8 | 65.3 | 59.1 |
| NHSC scholarship, % | 0.42 | 0.37 | 0.35 | 0.53 |
| Community based, % | 5.8 | 8.2 | 3.6 | 5.1 |
NHSC = National Health Service Corps.
Note: Percentages may not sum to 100% because of missing data fields. In particular, debt level was unknown for 3.3% of the study sample.
↵a Mean and median debt levels exclude students with no debt. Debt levels are adjusted to 2010 dollars.
↵b Marital status was unknown for 29.9% of the study sample. Unknown marital status did not predict any study outcomes in multivariate models.