The lifetime cost to English students of borrowing to invest in a medical degree: a gender comparison using data from the Office for National Statistics

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate this impact on male and female English medical graduates by estimating the total time and amount repaid on loans taken out with the UK's Student Loans Company (SLC).SettingUK.Participants4286 respondents with a medical degree in the Labour Force Surveys administered by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) between 1997 and 2014.OutcomesAge-salary profiles were generated to estimate the repayment profiles for different levels of initial graduate debt.Results2195 female and 2149 male medical graduates were interviewed by the ONS. Those working full-time (73.1% females and 96.1% males) were analysed in greater depth. Following standardisation to 2014 prices, average full-time male graduates earned up to 35% more than females by the age of 55. The initial graduate debt from tuition fees alone amounts to £39 945.69. Owing to interest charges on this debt the average full-time male graduate repays £57 303 over 20 years, while the average female earns less and so repays £61 809 over 26 years. When additional SLC loans are required for maintenance, the initial graduate debt can be as high as £81 916 and, as SLC debt is written off 30 years after graduation, the average female repays £75 786 while the average male repays £110 644.ConclusionsMedical graduates on an average salary are unlikely to repay their SLC debt in full. This is a consequence of higher university fees and as SLC debt is written off 30 years after graduation. This results in the average female graduate repaying more when debt is low, but a lower amount when debt is high compared to male graduates.

Cross-sectional study of the financial cost of training to the surgical trainee in the UK and Ireland

“…5 It has previously been calculated that medical students graduating currently are unlikely to repay their student loan debt before reaching the 30-year point at which it is written off. 6 The salaries of male and female medical graduates diverge such that by the age of 55, the average male medical school graduate earns 35% more. 6 This means that the average female graduate repays more when debt is low, but a lower amount when debt is high, compared with male graduates.…”

What shape do UK trainees want their training to be? Results of a cross-sectional study

“…Under the current £9000 annual fees regime, medical students graduate with debts exceeding £39 000, from university tuition fees alone. 24 Whereas when additional Student Loans Company (SLC) loans are required for maintenance, debt exceeds £81 000. Furthermore, doctors in training shoulder the burden of costs of postgraduate training.…”

Tuition fees for medical school: what is the effect on students?

“…According to a BMJ Open study in 2015 the initial graduate debt for medical students could be as much as £81 916 1. At that time, the maximum tuition fee was £9000 and the interest was 3% plus the retail price index inflation rate.…”

“…When looking at a debt from tuition fees alone of £39 946 (based on 2014 fees and interest rate), the study calculated that the average male graduate would repay £57 303 over 20 years and the average female graduate would pay £61 809 over 26 years 1. Female doctors tend to pay off their debt more slowly and accrue more interest because, on average, they earn less than their male counterparts.…”