Medical School Cost: Prices With & Without Insurance

Medical school is one of the most expensive degrees in the United States. The total includes tuition and fees, but also housing, food, books, health insurance and other living costs for four years. That full amount is what schools call the cost of attendance.

The numbers below are AAMC data reported by MedSchoolCoach and Northwestern, along with figures from the Education Data Initiative. They are medians and averages, so an individual school can sit well above or below them.

The headline numbers are four-year medians for the class of 2026. AAMC data reported by MedSchoolCoach puts the median at $297,745 for public school in-state students and $408,150 for private school students.

The gap between public and private schools is large. Public schools are funded in part by their states and usually give lower prices to in-state residents. Private schools charge the same rate to everyone, in general, and it is higher.

The first year is a useful snapshot because it shows what you need to budget up front. AAMC data reported by MedSchoolCoach gives a median first-year cost of attendance of $75,654 at public schools for in-state students and $106,787 at private schools, for 2025-26.

Later years can differ slightly. Tuition may rise from year to year, and some schools charge different fees in the clinical years. Look at each school's published cost of attendance table for the figure by year.

Tuition and fees are only a portion of the cost of attendance. The AAMC medians reported by Northwestern for 2025-26 are $43,648/yr at public in-state schools and $74,661/yr at private schools.

The gap between these numbers and the four-year totals above is living expenses, health insurance, supplies and other items. Those can account for a large share of the total, so do not budget from tuition alone.

The Education Data Initiative breaks out tuition, fees and insurance by school type and residency. Across all schools for 2025-26, the average is $61,110/yr.

Within that average, residency matters a great deal at public schools. A resident of the state pays $43,016/yr at a public school, while a nonresident pays $68,032/yr. Private schools charge residents $68,342/yr in the same dataset.

Note that these figures include insurance and use a different method from the AAMC medians above, so the numbers will not line up exactly. Compare figures within one source instead of mixing them.

A typical cost of attendance includes:

• Tuition and fees
• Health insurance, if the school requires it or you do not have coverage
• Housing and utilities
• Food
• Books, supplies and equipment
• Transportation
• Licensing exam fees and other personal expenses

Housing and food vary the most from school to school. A school in a high-cost city will usually have a higher living-expense budget than one in a lower-cost area.

Several costs sit outside the cost of attendance table or appear only in certain years:

• Application costs, including primary and secondary fees and travel for interviews.
• Licensing exam fees.
• Residency application and interview costs, which come in the final year.
• Moving costs between rotations or for residency.

The Education Data Initiative reports that the class of 2025 paid $234,792 in total tuition and fees. That figure is a useful reference for tuition alone over four years, and it excludes living costs.

• What is the cost of attendance for each year, not only the first year?
• Is tuition guaranteed or expected to increase?
• Does the school offer in-state tuition and under what residency rules?
• What scholarships and grants are available, and do they renew each year?
• Does the school require its own health insurance plan, and can I waive it?
• What are the typical fees for clinical rotations away from campus?

For questions about loans, repayment and financial aid options, talk to the school's financial aid office. A licensed financial professional can help with decisions about borrowing.