It used to be that the rite of passage in becoming a doctor was sacrifice —long hours of studying in medical school, followed by long hours of residency training. While those experiences still hold true, there’s another factor in the mix: debt. For many medical school graduates, increasingly high tuition costs result in significant medical education debt. Upstate Medical University’s College of Medicine is no exception. For decades, New York state residents were spared much of this burden, with tuition at the four state medical schools among the lowest in the nation. But state funding changes to SUNY campuses have radically altered tuition fees in a relatively short period of time. Little more than 10 years ago, College of Medicine tuition was $16,000 annually. This year, the cost of annual tuition is $43,670, with a total cost of attendance estimated at $68,553 per year for New York state residents.
Paying for medical school today is an entirely different enterprise from the experiences Paul Norcross hears about from alumni physicians as he travels the country in his role as executive director of the Upstate Medical Alumni Foundation. “Over and over, I hear how little it cost our baby boomer and older alumni to obtain their medical education," he says.
“Upstate has a legacy of alumni supporting students, whether it’s through mentorship, hands-on training, or supporting scholarships. We’re asking alumni to consider endowing a scholarship so we can ease the burden of current and future generations of Upstate medical students.” Read more>>
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Paul E. Norcross
Executive Director
(315) 464-4362
norcrosp@upstate.edu