Cost of living is climbing. Tuition prices are climbing. The result is that cost of going to PS school continues to go higher and paying for it is getting harder. In fact, the most expensive program is now $180,000 just in tuition!
The cost of graduate programs throughout the country is absolutely ridiculous. That is why if you are trying to put yourself in a good financial situation, you should find the cheapest physician assistant school you can attend.
We provide you a starting point in your research in this article. Specifically, we provide you a list of the 10 cheapest physician assistant schools in the US. We break down the cheapest schools into two categories: In-state physician assistant school and out-of-state.
Numbers We Look At
The data we include below includes 3 data points to help you make a good financial decision:
- The tuition costs for each physician assistant school.
- The FitBUX Score for a new grad from each program. The higher the score the better.
- How much extra money you may potentially have at retirement by choosing one of the cheapest physician assistant schools
For comparison purposes, we used data for the US Bureau of Labor and data we collect from FitBUX members to compare the cheapest PA schools vs the average. We used an average graduate salary of $100,000 with an average tuition for PA schools of $80,000. We assumed the full $80,000 was funded via student loans.
For reference, the average FitBUX Score for a new grad physician assistant is 138.
Top 5 Cheapest In-State Physician Assistant SchoolsÂ
5. University of Texas – HS Center at San Antonio
Tuition: $36,000
Graduate FitBUX Score: 183
By attending UTSA you could have approximately 5.5% more in assets by the time your hit retirement relative to the average physician assistant school.
4. University of Wisconsin-Madison
Tuition: 32,594
Graduate FitBUX Score: 187
By attending University of Wisconsin you could have approximately 5.77% more in assets by the time your hit retirement relative to the average physician assistant school.
3. Miami-Dade College
Tuition: $32,000
Graduate FitBUX Score: 187
By attending Miami-Dade you could have approximately 5.77% more in assets by the time your hit retirement relative to the average physician assistant school.
2. Towson University
Tuition: $31,325
Graduate FitBUX Score: 188
By attending Towson you could have approximately 5.8% more in assets by the time your hit retirement relative to the average physician assistant school.
1. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Tuition: $25,500
Graduate FitBUX Score: 195
By attending University of Texas Rio Grande Valley you could have approximately 6.8% more in assets by the time your hit retirement relative to the average physician assistant school.
Compared to the most expensive PA schools, you could potentially have 22% more in assets by retirement!
Top 5 Cheapest Out-Of-State Physician Assistant Schools
5. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Tuition: $60,500
Graduate FitBUX Score: 156
By attending University of Texas Rio Grande Valley you could have approximately 2.4% more in assets by the time your hit retirement relative to the average physician assistant school.
4. Marywood University
Tuition: $57,275
Graduate FitBUX Score: 160
By attending Marywood you could have approximately 2.9% more in assets by the time your hit retirement relative to the average physician assistant school.
3. Towson University
Tuition: $52,026
Graduate FitBUX Score: 165
By attending Towson you could have approximately 3.64% more in assets by the time your hit retirement relative to the average physician assistant school.
2. Miami-Dade College
Tuition: $45,000
Graduate FitBUX Score: 172
By attending Miami-Dade you could have approximately 4.4% more in assets by the time your hit retirement relative to the average physician assistant school.
1. University of North Dakota
Tuition: $38,095
Graduate FitBUX Score: 180
By attending University of North Dakota you could have approximately 5.3% more in assets by the time your hit retirement relative to the average physician assistant school.
Compared to the most expensive PA schools, you could potentially have 18% more in assets by retirement!
By David Hughes and Joseph Reinke, CFA
