J Dent Educ. 69(11): 1278-1292 2005
© 2005 American Dental Education Association
Survey of Dental Student Financial Assistance, 2003–04
Jacqueline E. Chmar, B.A.;
Richard G. Weaver, D.D.S.;
Richard W. Valachovic, D.M.D., M.P.H.
Key words: financial assistance, sources of financial assistance
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Abstract
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The Survey of Dental Student Financial Assistance reports data collected by the American Dental Education Association on financial assistance to dental students in the academic year 2003–04. Over 90 percent of students at the fifty-one responding dental schools received financial assistance in the form of loans, grants, scholarships and/or work-study programs, with students receiving an average of $43,191 per year. As tuition and fees rose 21.4 percent over the past two years, financial assistance rose 23.1 percent. Both continue to increase at a rate greater than inflation. The primary source of financial assistance was in the form of loans, accounting for nearly 90 percent of the reported financial assistance. Most of the remaining assistance was in the form of obligated or unobligated grants and scholarships, with an increasing share attributable to grants/scholarships with obligations following graduation. As the price of higher education increases, reliance on financial assistance continues to increase, and students graduate with an increasing amount of debt in real and constant dollars.
The American Dental Education Association conducts a biennial survey on student financial assistance at U.S. dental schools. Since the previous survey1 in 2001–02, the price of higher education has risen as the costs of providing higher education have increased, often accompanied by more limited state support to higher education as state budgets responded to changing revenues and competing funding priorities. Students faced sharp increases in tuition and fees throughout the higher education community. Dental schools were not unaffected by these trends. In light of these trends, it is important to assess whether financial assistance has kept pace with rising tuition and fees, as well as which sources of aid students are accessing to meet rising costs.
Fifty-one of the fifty-six U.S. dental schools responded to the 2003–04 financial assistance survey. The students at these institutions represent 92.5 percent of the total 2003–04 dental school enrollment. The results of the survey are reported in aggregate, by type of assistance (loans, grants, work-study) and by type of school (public, private, private state-related). Trends in tuition and fees and financial assistance are identified.
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Findings
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Percent of Students Receiving Financial Assistance
In 2003–04, 90.1 percent of dental students received financial assistance in the form of loans, grants, scholarships, and/or work-study programs (Table 1
). While similar to the percent of students in 2001–02, the percentage of students receiving financial aid has increased from the 82.3 percent of students receiving financial aid in 1990–91.
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Table 1. Percent of dental students receiving financial assistance through federal, state, and/or school sources, selected years, 1990-2003
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The percentage of students receiving financial aid at public schools (91.1 percent) was slightly higher than at private schools (89 percent) and private state-related schools (88.1 percent). The percentage of students receiving assistance by year in dental school remained similar, ranging from 89.5 percent to 90.8 percent.
Average Annual Assistance Per Student
The average amount of financial assistance received by the students who received aid in 2003–04 was $43,191 (Table 2). The average amount per student was highest for students at private schools ($55,079), where tuition and fees are significantly more. At public schools, students received an average of $34,946 in financial assistance, and at private state-related schools students received an average of $46,028.
On average, the amount of financial assistance has increased by 23.1 percent since 2001–02. The greatest percent increase was at private state-related schools, where financial assistance increased 48.5 percent over the two-year period. At public and private schools, financial assistance increased 26.2 percent and 7.8 percent respectively. The average annual increase in financial assistance since 1990–91 was 7.1 percent (Table 3). It was slightly higher at public schools (8 percent) and lower at private and private state-related schools (5.9 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively).
Increases in financial assistance result from the increasing price of dental education as tuition and fees continue to rise. Overall, tuition and fees increased 21.4 percent between 2001–02 and 2003–04 (Table 4). During this period, tuition and fees at private state-related schools and public schools increased most rapidly, rising 19 percent and 18.7 percent respectively. Tuition and fees at private schools increased 7.8 percent.
In 2003–04 tuition and fees averaged $21,141. Tuition and fees were higher at private and private state-related institutions, $35,658 and $28,022 respectively. At public institutions, tuition and fees averaged $12,636.
The amount of financial assistance continues to exceed tuition and fees, as it also covers living expenses and the cost of books, supplies, materials, and instruments for many dental students (Figure 1). In 2003–04, financial assistance exceeded tuition and fees by 104 percent. This is similar to 2001–02, when financial aid exceeded tuition and fees by 102 percent. The amount by which financial assistance exceeds tuition and fees was greatest at public schools: 177 percent. At private and private state-related schools, financial assistance exceeded tuition and fees by 54 percent and 64 percent, respectively.
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Figure 1. Average student financial assistance and the percent by which it exceeded average tuition and fees, by type of school, 2003–04
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Alongside increases in tuition and fees and financial assistance is rising educational debt.2 Upon graduation from dental school, students had an average of $122,263 in educational debt in 2004. Among indebted students only, the average graduating debt was $135,721. At private and private state-related schools, where tuition and fees and financial assistance are much greater, the average graduating debt of those with debt reached $171,928. At public schools it was $110,686 in 2004. The near parallel trends of rising tuition and fees, financial assistance, and debt upon graduation of indebted students are evident in Figure 2, which shows these trends in constant 2003–04 dollars. Graduating debt has increased slightly faster than tuition and fees and financial assistance. This results from increasing debt upon entering dental school and a slightly greater increase in financial assistance relative to tuition and fees.
In addition to assessing whether students are able to obtain adequate financial assistance to complete their education, it is important to consider the source of the assistance and the impact it has on educational debt and the willingness of potential students to take on the debt resulting from the cost of dental education today.
Student Financial Assistance by Source of Assistance
A total of $648,465,489 in financial assistance was reported by the fifty-one responding dental schools (Table 5). Most of this assistance, 89.6 percent, was in the form of loans (Figure 3). Grants and scholarships accounted for 10.2 percent of all financial assistance, and the remaining 0.2 percent was accounted for by work-study programs. The percentage of assistance in the form of grants and scholarships declined slightly, from 12 percent in 2001–02. A corresponding increase was evident in the percent attributed to loans.
The percentage of financial assistance in the form of grants and scholarships was higher at public dental schools (11.9 percent) than at private and private state-related schools (8.9 percent and 7.8 percent). Likewise, private and private state-related schools attributed a greater percentage of financial assistance to loans (90.9 percent and 92.2 percent) than public schools (87.9 percent).
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Profile of Student Loan Programs
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Nearly 90 percent of all student financial assistance in 2003–04 was in the form of loans. Three-quarters of the loans dispersed were subsidized or unsubsidized Stafford loans, lower than the 83 percent in 2001–02. There are two components to the program: a subsidized component in which interest does not accrue while in school and an unsubsidized component in which interest accrues while the student is in school. Eligibility for the subsidized Stafford Student Loan Program is determined through a needs-analysis system established by law. The Stafford Student Loan Program provided subsidized loans to 94 percent of students and unsubsidized loans to 88 percent of students receiving financial aid at the fifty-one responding dental schools (Table 6). Health professions students can receive loans up to the cost of attendance at their institution, with a maximum of $8,500 in subsidized and $30,000 in unsubsidized Stafford loans in an academic year. In 2003–04 students received an average of $8,500 in subsidized loans and $23,615 in unsubsidized loans. The average unsubsidized loan was $19,931 at public schools, $27,933 at private schools, and $28,871 at private state-related schools.
Students demonstrating financial need to meet educational expenses are eligible for the Perkins Loan Program (Table 7). Eligible students can receive up to $6,000 a year; however, dollar amounts at this revolving loan program at participating schools are limited. Thirty-four schools offered Perkins loans to dental students, providing an average loan of $4,000 to recipients. The average loan was $4,007 at public schools, $4,133 at private schools, and $3,434 at private state-related schools. The average loan value has continued to increase over time. More than one-quarter of all students receiving financial assistance received funding through the Perkins Loan Program. Students at public schools were more likely to be Perkins loan recipients (28.7 percent) than students attending private institutions (22.2 percent).
The Health Professions Student Loan Program (Table 8) provided 7 percent of all loan funding for dental students. It is a low interest revolving loan program funded and administered through the Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources, and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The amount of funding available each year is equivalent to the amount repaid by prior recipients the previous year. Participating schools manage the funds and are responsible for selecting loan recipients. The loans are made only to students who demonstrate financial need (with parental information being considered even though the student may be independent). Forty-nine of the fifty-one responding dental schools reported students receiving loans through this program. In all, 25.3 percent of financial aid recipients received an average loan of $10,720 in 2003–04. Participation rates were higher at public schools (29 percent) than private schools (18.3 percent). At public schools students received an average of $9,708, and at private schools the average loan was $12,729. Students at private state-related schools received an average of $11,773. These loan amounts are larger than in prior years. The increased loan values may be a result of high loan consolidation rates among prior recipients due to low interest rates, thus increasing the amount of loan funding available to students through the program.
Less than 1 percent of loan funding was obtained through the Loans for Disadvantaged Students, another program funded and administered through the Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources, and Services Administration. In addition to meeting the eligibility requirements for the Health Professions Student Loan Program, recipients must come from a disadvantaged background. In 2003–04, twenty-seven schools reported a total of 273 recipients of Loans for Disadvantaged Students. The average loan value was $10,734 (Table 9) with 1.8 percent of financial aid recipients receiving loans through this program. The average loan amount was highest at private schools: $16,875. The average loan amount at public schools was $6,875 and at private state-related schools was $4,545. The annual borrowing limit for this program may equal but not exceed the cost of attendance (tuition, reasonable educational expenses, and reasonable living expenses). However, because available loan funds are limited, institutions are unable to make loans of these amounts.
The remaining 14.1 percent of loans come from a variety of private lenders, including through the Alternative Dental Education Assistance Loan (ADEAL) program. The percentage of loans through other private lender loan programs, outside of the ADEAL program, more than doubled since 2001–02, increasing from 5.2 percent to 12.5 percent of all loans. Other private lender loans accounted for a greater percentage of loans than any other type except for Stafford loans. Students at forty-two of the fifty-one responding dental schools obtained such loans. Over 20 percent of financial aid recipients received these loans, with nearly 47 percent of students at private schools receiving private lender loans. At public schools 4.1 percent of students and at private state-related schools 12.1 percent of students received private lender loans (Table 10). The average amount of loans from other private lenders was $23,935, 49 percent higher than in 2001–02. At public, private, and private state-related schools, the average loan amounts were $12,290, $26,268, and $10,483, respectively.
The remaining loans obtained through a private lender were part of the Alternative Dental Education Assistance Loan (ADEAL) program, a private, cost-based loan program through which students are able to borrow up to the cost of attending school, minus other financial assistance received. A total of 636 students at twenty-two of the responding fifty-one institutions borrowed money through the ADEAL program. The average loan amount at the twenty-one schools reporting loan values was $14,938, with 4.2 percent of students receiving assistance participating (Table 11). At public schools the average value was slightly lower, at $14,000, while students at private schools borrowed an average of $20,836. At private state-related schools, the average amount borrowed was $9,125. Participation varied by type of school, with 23.1 percent of students receiving financial assistance at private-state related schools participating, 5.3 percent at private schools, and 0.7 percent at public schools. Overall, ADEAL loans account for 1.6 percent of all reported loans dispersed.
One percent of loan funding was in the form of state loan programs and school loan programs. In 2003–04, 0.1 percent of loans was obtained through state programs and 0.8 percent through school programs. A total of eighty-three students at fourteen institutions received loans through a state loan program. Seventy-nine of these students were at public schools. Three private schools and one private state-related school each reported one student receiving a loan through a state loan program. The average loan value of all state loans was $8,246. The 0.1 percent of loans obtained through a state loan program was a decline from the 0.5 percent in 2001–02.
Twenty-four schools reported that students received loans through a school loan program in 2003–04 with a total of 887 students receiving loans through the programs. The average loan value was $5,187 with 5.9 percent of financial aid recipients receiving loans through a school loan program. At public schools the average loan amount was $4,714 and at private schools it was $5,629. One private-state related school reported a single recipient of a loan through a school loan program.
Six institutions, including three public, two private, and one private state-related school, reported loans from other sources. A total of sixty-four students received $393,160 in loans from other sources. These loans accounted for less than 0.1 percent of all financial assistance received through loans.
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Summary of the Loan Programs
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Loans remain the largest source of financial assistance for dental students, providing $581,299,324 in aid at the fifty-one responding dental schools in 2003-04. This accounts for nearly 90 percent of all reported financial assistance. The Stafford Student Loan Program remains the backbone of federal financial aid, accounting for nearly 75 percent of the total 2003–04 loan amount (Table 13, Figure 4). However, this was a decline from nearly 83 percent of the total amount in 2001–02. Most of the change in the Stafford loan percentage came through the subsidized loans. Still, 94 percent of aid recipients received subsidized Stafford loans, with many of them receiving the maximum allowable award of $8,500, and 88 percent of aid recipients received unsubsidized Stafford loans averaging $23,617. The average unsubsidized Stafford loan in 2003–04 was more than $5,000 greater than the average unsubsidized Stafford loan in 2001–02, reflecting a needed increase in borrowing. At the same time, there has not been an increase in the maximum borrowing allowed under the Stafford Student Loan Program since 1992. Use of the Stafford loan program remained high, with nearly 94 percent of aid recipients at public schools and 92 percent at private schools obtaining subsidized loans, and over 87 percent of aid recipients at public, over 88 percent at private, and 90 percent at private state-related schools receiving unsubsidized loans.
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Table 13. Percent of total dollar amount of loans and percent use of loan programs by students receiving financial assistance by type of school
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Corresponding to the decrease in the percentage of loans attributed to the Stafford Student Loan Program was an increase in the percentage of loans from other private lenders, rising from 5.2 percent in 2001–02 to 12.5 percent in 2003–04. An additional 1.6 percent of loans are obtained through the private ADEAL program. Private loans have higher interest rates than their federal, state, and school-sponsored counterparts, and students do not use private lender loans until they have maximized what they are able to borrow through the lower interest-bearing loan programs. Thus the increased use of other lender loans reflects the fact that the Stafford loan program and other low interest programs no longer cover the cost of obtaining a dental education. This is evident in that at public schools, where tuition and fees are substantially lower, only 4.1 percent of aid recipients obtained loans from alternative private lenders. At private schools, 46.7 percent of aid recipients had such loans. In addition, the average value of these loans increased from $8,946 to $12,290 at public schools and $18,118 to $26,268 at private schools between 2001–02 and 2003–04. At private state-related schools, the average amount increased from $7,475 to $10,483 with 12.1 percent of aid recipients receiving such loans.
The Health Professions Student Loan Program was the next largest source of loans, accounting for 7 percent of all loan funding. The average loan amount was $9,708 at public schools, $12,729 at private schools, and $11,773 at private state-related schools. Use was highest at private state-related schools (32.1 percent) followed by public schools with 29 percent and private schools with 18.3 percent of aid recipients participating. Loans through the Health Professions Student Loan Program have increased as high consolidation rates have led to increased repayment and thus funding for the program. Loans dispersed through this program can be expected to fluctuate with interest rates and repayment trends, as the amount of available funding is linked to funds collected through repayment.
The remaining loan programs—Perkins Loan Program, Loans for Disadvantaged Students, state and school loan programs, and other loans—each account for less than 3 percent of all loan funding. With the exception of the Perkins loan, obtained by 26 percent of aid recipients, usage is below 6 percent of aid recipients for each of these programs. Average loan amounts range from $4,000 for Perkins loans to $10,734 for ADEAL loans.
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Profile of Student Grants and Scholarships
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Approximately 10 percent of all student financial assistance received in 2003–04 was in the form of grants and scholarships (Table 5
). This percentage was less than 8 percent at private state-related dental schools and nearly 12 percent at public schools. At private schools, grants and scholarships accounted for nearly 9 percent of financial assistance. Grant and scholarship aid declined by nearly two percentage points since 2001–02. Grants and scholarships include both obligated and unobligated funding. In 2003–04, 61.4 percent of funding had no associated obligations. The percentage of unobligated grant/scholarship aid has declined from 81.8 percent in 1996–97.
The three sources of grants and scholarships without a service obligation following graduation included school-funded grants and scholarships, unobligated non-school-funded grants and scholarships, and Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students. Of these, the biggest source of funding was school-funded grants and scholarships, comprising nearly 40 percent of all grants and scholarships (Table 14). Forty-seven of the fifty-one responding schools reported awarding school-funded grants and scholarships. An average of $6,184 was awarded to the 28.4 percent of students receiving financial assistance who received unobligated school-funded grants or scholarships. The percentage of students receiving aid who received school-funded grants or scholarships has declined by over seven percentage points from 35.5 to 28.4 percent since 2001–02. Private schools offered a substantially higher amount ($8,329) than public schools ($5,689); however, only 19 percent of aid recipients received such awards at private schools whereas nearly 35 percent received awards at public institutions. At private-state related dental schools, 25.6 percent of aid recipients received an average of $3,682 in school-funded grants and scholarships.
Unobligated non-school-funded grants and scholarships comprised 14.9 percent of all grants and scholarships in 2003–04 (Table 15). These grants and scholarships are funded by states, foundations, and other public/private organizations. Students were recipients of these awards at forty-nine of the fifty-one responding schools. The average grant/scholarship was $4,782, and 13.7 percent of financial aid recipients received such a grant or scholarship. As with school-funded grants and scholarships, students at private institutions received a higher average award ($6,563) than their counterparts at public schools ($5,085), but only 7.1 percent of private school aid recipients received an award while 15.3 percent of public school aid recipients received an unobligated non-school-funded grant or scholarship. At private state-related dental schools, 31.6 percent of financial aid recipients received an average of $2,042.
The third type of unobligated aid was Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students, received by 4.5 percent of all students receiving financial aid and accounting for 6.6 of all grants and scholarships (Table 16). Dental schools must apply to receive these scholarship funds for their students. In 2003–04, twenty-three of the fifty-one responding schools reported that they awarded funds from this federal program. This is a decline from thirty-five in 2001–02 and forty in 1998–99. The average award was $6,473 at all schools. At private schools an average of $9,401 was received by 2.8 percent of all financial aid recipients; at public schools an average of $5,998 was received by 4.5 percent of all financial aid recipients. Private state-related schools awarded an average of $3,439 to 6.4 percent of students who received financial aid.
The remaining 38.6 percent of grant and scholarship assistance awarded in 2003–04 was associated with some form of service or commitment following graduation. Most of these were in the form of uniformed services including the Army, Navy, and Air Force, the Indian Health Service (IHS), or the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), together comprising 33.6 percent of all grant and scholarship aid (Table 17). Of students receiving financial aid, 4.3 percent participated in one of these programs and received an average of $34,567 in scholarships. The greatest awards were reported in the uniformed services, with 592 students receiving scholarships at thirty-six different dental schools. Four schools reported a total of five students participating in the IHS scholarship program and twenty-one schools reported forty-five students participating in the NHSC. There was large variation in the amount of the scholarships, ranging from an average of $25,423 at public schools to $46,764 at private institutions. The range is a result of differences in tuition and fees at public and private schools. The scholarships cover both educational costs, including tuition, fees, books, materials, and supplies, and a stipend to cover living expenses.
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Table 17. Average amount of scholarships for the uniformed services, Indian Health Service, and National Health Service by type of school
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Nearly 4 percent of grant and scholarship funding was awarded to 1.6 percent of students as state grants and scholarships with service obligations (Table 18). Such scholarships were reported by twelve schools; however, only eleven schools reported the amount of funding dispersed through obligated state grants and scholarships. The average award was $10,417 at all schools. Awards were lower ($6,997) at public schools and higher ($14,628) at private institutions. After declining in 2001–02, the average award in 2003–04 was nearly three times the amount reported in 1998–99.
Finally, organizations may offer grants and scholarships with unique eligibility requirements. Accounting for 1.1 percent of 2003–04 awards, such scholarships were reported at eleven institutions, nine public, one private, and one private state-related. The average award received by the sixty-three recipients was $12,113.
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Summary of Grant/Scholarship Programs
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A total of $66,017,035 in grants and scholarships was reported by the fifty-one responding schools in 2003–04. These grants and scholarships account for 10.2 percent of all financial aid received. While both obligated and unobligated grants/scholarships have increased, the percentage of grants not associated with a service commitment has declined from 81.8 percent in 1996–97 to 61.4 percent in 2003–04 (Figure 5). This shift is due primarily to an increase in the percentage of grant/scholarship dollars disbursed in the form of uniformed services/IHS/NHSC scholarships with a service obligation following graduation. Comprising only 8 percent of grant/scholarship money in 1996–97, these scholarships now comprise one-third of all grant/scholarship money. During this period there was a corresponding decline in the percentage of grant/scholarship money in the form of unobligated school funded grants/scholarships, from 48.3 percent in 1996–97 to 33.6 percent in 2003–04.
Figure 6 shows the overall distribution of grants/scholarships by source of funding, mean grant/scholarship value, and type of school (public, private, private state-related). The two primary sources of grant/scholarship funding are unobligated school-funded awards and uniformed services/IHS/NHSC awards. The average value of uniformed services/IHS/NHSC scholarships is much higher than all other types of scholarships grants, including unobligated school-funded awards. Regardless of the type of grant/scholarship, average awards were higher at private schools than public and private-state related institutions. This would be expected given the much higher cost of attending a private school.
In addition, the percentage of students receiving grants/scholarships through the various programs is summarized by type of school in Table 19. The percentage of aid recipients receiving unobligated grants and scholarships was much higher at public and private-state related schools than at private institutions. Percent use of programs with obligations was similar across different types of schools, with use of uniformed services/IHS/NCSC scholarships at public, private, and private-state related schools at 3.5 percent, 4.9 percent, and 6.4 percent, respectively.
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Table 19. Percent of total dollars disbursed and financially assisted students receiving grants/scholarships by type of school
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In 2003–04, 61.4 percent of grants/scholarships did not have an associated obligation. The largest source of these scholarships was through school-funded programs, comprising 39.9 percent of all grant/scholarship funding. In 2001–02, school-funded programs comprised 42.2 percent and in 1996–97 they comprised 48.3 percent of all grant/scholarship funding. The average award in 2003–04 was $6,184 and ranged from $3,682 at private state-related schools to $8,329 at private schools. Nearly 35 percent of aid recipients at public schools received such awards while only 19 percent did at private schools.
The other sources of unobligated grant/scholarship funding included non-school-funded awards and scholarships for disadvantaged students. Non-school-funded awards accounted for 14.9 percent of scholarship/grant aid, with 13.7 percent of aid recipients receiving such awards. A higher percentage of students at private state-related (31.6 percent) and public (15.3 percent) schools received non-school-funded awards than at private institutions (7.1 percent). The average award was highest at private schools: $6,563 compared to $5,085 at public and $2,042 at private state-related schools. Scholarships for disadvantaged students accounted for the remaining 6.6 percent of grant/scholarship aid awarded without obligations. Again, aid recipients at public (5.4 percent) and private state-related (6.4 percent) schools were more likely to receive awards than students at private schools (2.8 percent), and the average award was highest at private schools: $9,401. At public and private state-related schools, the average awards were $5,998 and $3,439 respectively.
The largest source of obligated grant/scholarship funding was through the uniformed services/IHS/NHSC scholarship programs. In 2003–04, 4.3 percent of aid recipients participated in these programs receiving a total of $22,192,020. The average award through uniformed services/IHS/NHSC scholarship programs ranged from $25,423 at public schools to $46,764 at private schools. This difference is reflective of the differences in cost of attendance at public and private schools.
Other programs contributing to the 38.6 percent of grants and scholarships with service obligations included state-funded programs with an obligation and other unspecified programs offered by various entities with an obligation. State-funded programs with an obligation comprised 3.9 percent of grant/scholarship funding, up from 1 percent in 2001–02.1 The average award ranged from $6,997 at public schools to $14,628 at private schools. Other forms of obligated awards accounted for the remaining 1.1 percent of grant/scholarships with service obligations. Sixty-three students at eleven responding institutions received an average of $12,133 through these other programs.
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Profile of Work-Study Programs
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In 2003–04, 0.2 percent of financial assistance was received through work-study programs (Table 20). This was consistent with previous years. The average support from federal work-study programs was $2,608 while the average amount from school work-study programs was $1,662. Almost 3 percent of students at twenty-four different dental schools participated in the federal work-study program, providing work-study aid to 438 students. Participation in federal work-study programs was slightly higher in 2001–02, but equivalent to 1998–99 participation rates. Two schools reported school-based work-study programs with a total of twenty-seven participating students. These students received an average award of $1,662.
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Financial Assistance Received by Postdoctoral Students
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Forty-seven dental schools reported information regarding financial assistance for postdoctoral students through non-stipend sources including the Stafford Student Loan Program, the Alternative Dental Education Assistance Loan or similar private loan program, or other non-stipend sources (Table 21). The largest source of support was the Stafford loan program, providing 50.6 percent of the financial assistance received by postdoctoral students. Forty-one percent of postdoctoral students received an average Stafford loan of $17,800. In addition, ADEAL and other private lender loans accounted for 34.6 percent of non-stipend assistance with postdoctoral students receiving an average of $24,747. Four percent of postdoctoral students received loans through the ADEAL program and 17 percent through other private lenders. The remaining 14.8 percent of non-stipend loans were obtained through other non-family and non-stipend sources. Eighteen percent of students were recipients of such loans with an average loan value of $11,676.
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Discussion
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As the price of a dental education continues to rise, particularly in the past few years, the use and amount of financial assistance have increased at an even greater rate. Fewer than 10 percent of dental students were able to finance their dental education without financial assistance in 2003–04. Loans remain the major source of financial assistance; however, the amount of assistance that can be obtained through the Stafford Student Loan Program has not changed in a number of years. Given the rising price of dental education, students are often unable to finance their education through these and other federal, state, and school loan programs. As a result, students are increasingly finding it necessary to obtain loans through higher interest private sources to bridge the gap between the price of their education and the amount of loans they are able to obtain through federal, state, and school programs. Thus, the percentage of loans obtained through private lenders has grown substantially since 2001–02.
Given that financial assistance continues to increase at a rate above both increases in tuition and fees and the consumer price index, it appears that the private loan market has been able to keep pace with the increasing need, and most dental students are able to obtain sufficient financial assistance to complete their dental education. However, insufficient or poor credit may restrict some students from obtaining private loans to help finance their dental education. In addition, as the price of dental education increases, along with graduating debt, it is evident from the 2004 ADEA Survey of Dental School Seniors that an increasing number of dental students are from families with parental incomes above $100,000, nearly 42 percent in 2004. In addition, an increasing number of students are concerned with their ability to finance their dental education.2 This is particularly true among students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
According to the 2004 ADEA Survey of Dental School Seniors, over 90 percent of seniors graduated with educational debt, averaging $135,721.2 Two-thirds of graduates reported over $100,000 in debt, and 37 percent graduated with over $150,000 in educational debt. As has been the case in the past, graduates reported financing very little of their education through income and/or savings from their self and/or their spouse. Only 22.6 percent of graduates financed more than 10 percent of their dental education through income and/or savings; 4.2 percent financed more than 50 percent of their dental education through income and/or savings. Similarly, less than 30 percent of respondents financed more than 10 percent of their dental education with gifts and/or financial support from parents and/or relatives. Meanwhile, nearly three-quarters of graduates had financed over 50 percent of their education through loans, grants, and scholarships. Clearly, the major source of financing dental education is through the use of loans, grants, and scholarships. The dependence of most students on such programs is high.
In conclusion, while students are able to obtain assistance to complete their education, they are left with an increasing debt load following graduation, often from sources with higher interest rates. The willingness of potential dental school applicants to take on such quantities of debt is unknown. In addition, the impact of anticipated debt on the demographic characteristics of the applicant pool is unknown. If tuition and fees and financial assistance in the form of loans continue to rise, thus increasing student debt upon graduation, it will be important to evaluate and address any impact this may have on the dental applicant pool. It also remains essential that potential applicants and students are educated regarding financial assistance resources, judicious use of these resources, and the management of debt both before and after graduation.
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Footnotes
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Ms. Chmar is Policy Analyst, Center for Educational Policy and Research; Dr. Weaver is Acting Director, Center for Educational Policy and Research; Dr. Valachovic is Executive Director—all at the American Dental Education Association. Direct correspondence and requests for reprints to Ms. Jacqueline E. Chmar, American Dental Education Association, 1400 K Street, NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20005: 202-289-7201 phone; 292-289-7204 fax; ChmarJ{at}ADEA.org.
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REFERENCES
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- Weaver RG, Haden NK, Valachovic RW. Survey of dental student financial assistance, 2001–02. J Dent Educ 2004;68:89–102.[Abstract]
- Weaver RG, Chmar JE, Haden NK, Valachovic RW. Annual ADEA survey of dental school seniors. J Dent Educ 2005;69:595–619.[Free Full Text]
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Abstract
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