12 Ways to Save Money During Physician Assistant School

Physician assistant school is expensive. I thought by choosing to apply to physician assistant school instead of medical school I would be getting a medical degree for close to nothing. How very naïve of me. I graduated from physician assistant school with over $130,000 in debt, which is just insane! Now I did go to an out-of-state private program. This may have been my first mistake however it did end up working out just fine. I am very thankful for the pause on student loan repayments (thanks to COVID-19). I should be done repaying my loans by the end of this year.

My hope with this article is to help anyone interested in physician assistant school to be more financially prepared than I was. Don’t have the same financial mindset I did. I thought “I’ll be paid well when I start working, I won’t even notice these student loans.” That is not the truth. I have been hyper-focused on getting these loans paid off as much as possible. I would love to have them paid off before repayments and interest accrual start up again.

If you follow most of these 12 ways to save money during physician assistant school you will be in a much better place financially than I was when I graduated. Alright, let’s dive into money-saving hacks for PA schools!

Choose an in-state public school when possible

If you have the luxury to choose which PA school you attend, choose the less expensive one! Seriously, unless you are choosing between Duke and a school no one has heard of that costs $20,000 less then choose the one that will save you money. This was not something I was considering when applying to PA school. I wanted to get OUT of North Carolina where I had been raised and attended college. I thought I needed to expose myself to something completely different… which I did in rural Virginia (lol).

The fact is, you will have the same degree when you graduate that everyone else who attends PA school does. I went to a rural private school. I now have a high-paying job BUT I graduated with a ton of debt. If I had attended an in-state public school I would likely have had much less debt upon graduation.

Only take out the minimum for student loans

Don’t do what I did and take out more student loans than necessary. I didn’t want to worry about adhering to a strict budget. So I took out a little extra every month so I didn’t feel any financial burden. My thought process was if I don’t stress about money then I will be able to focus more on school. In turn that would allow me to do better academically. While I did excel academically in PA school, I will never know if I could have done that and kept up with a frugal lifestyle.

Lean on your family a little longer

I know not everyone has this luxury but if you are still young and have the option to stay on your parents’ phone plan, medical insurance, etc. why wouldn’t you? You may feel like you’re ready to do everything on your own but it will save you not only money but also valuable time. Wait until you have actually started work and then make the switch. Similarly, if you are married while attending PA school, try your best to live solely on your spouse’s income instead of using your student loans for anything besides tuition.

Research scholarships

While this is not something I pursued since I knew I wanted to work in dermatology, know there are scholarships out there for PA students. Several of my classmates were interested in joining the military upon graduation. There are scholarships through the different branches of the military which include student loan repayment along with other benefits. There is also the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program (NHSC SP) that offers a generous scholarship for those who work in primary care in a designated healthcare shortage area. Do your research and determine if any scholarships are worth pursuing for you.

Keep your rent low

Try to keep your rent payment as low as possible while in school, as this will be a huge part of your overall budget. If it makes sense to, live with a classmate or two to keep the rent down even further. While this may help you financially, you of course have to be careful with who you choose to live with. Don’t live with someone that you think is going to up partying every night with the undergraduate students. You are there to study so that one day you can help patients. You can’t afford major distractions.

Live close to school

If you have the option to live within walking distance of the school, why not do it? You will save a ton of money on gas. Not to mention you will get your steps in daily! I lived a few miles from my school so I had to drive, but some people had apartments right next to the school and had the option to roll out of bed and walk to class every day as if they were still in undergrad.

Buy used textbooks and only buy the ones you need

When you are about to start your PA program you will likely be given a list of a ton of textbooks that are “required”. I was fortunate enough that my best friend was in the class ahead of me. She told me which textbooks I needed and which ones they were told to buy but never opened. I also was able to buy all of the textbooks from her for super cheap. Between purchasing only the necessary ones and buying them used I probably saved myself over a thousand dollars.

Buy used furniture

If you are planning on living in a new town only during PA school, then leaving upon graduation, buy furniture from students in the class that is about to graduate. I didn’t do this and I wish I had. I did however sell the majority of my furniture when it was my time to graduate. There were a couple of incoming students who benefited from my frantic last-minute attempts to sell my furniture on Facebook Marketplace. They walked away with close to free furniture that I had spent (regrettably) hundreds of dollars on.

Carpool to clinical rotations

This will be completely dependent on your program and the locations of the clinical rotations. One of the perks of our program is that all of our clinical rotations were within a 2-hour max driving distance from the town where our school of health sciences was located. This allowed all of us to stay in the same apartments or houses if we desired while commuting to clinical rotations a month at a time. If you have the option, I highly recommend carpooling to your clinical rotation if there is a classmate who is going there as well. This would be another great way to save money on gas if the two of you alternate between who drives.

Always ask for student discounts

Whether it is your utilities or gym memberships, make sure you ask for a student discount. There are a lot of small ways to save money on things you would be buying anyway just by asking the question. The worst thing that will happen is they will say no. The best thing that will happen is you get a huge discount. Small amounts of money add up over time.

Seek out part-time work

This will not be for everyone, but if you are struggling financially it may be worth trying to find a part-time job on the weekends that allows you time to study while you earn money. I know these jobs are hard to find, but they are out there. I still think about my friend in college who scored a job as an attendant at a country club gated community. She sat in her little hut and let people in and out when they drove up. The best part was the entire time she was studying and making money while doing it.

I wouldn’t suggest biting off more than you can chew. PA school is extremely time-consuming. There were times I think I could have worked a few part-time shifts for some extra cash, but there were also weekends with exams the following Monday where I couldn’t have imagined having any other responsibilities.

Maintain a strict budget

Last but not least, I wish I had maintained a strict budget while in PA school. If you can keep your budget low and live frugally for a few years then you will be able to take out fewer student loans and be in less debt by the time you graduate. I wasn’t spending a ton of money on unnecessary items but I also wasn’t watching how much I spent at the grocery store, or trying to come up with creative ways to restrict my monthly spending.

Final thoughts

If you are reading this before starting PA school and planning on taking action on these ideas, you are going to be in a much better position financially than the majority of your peers. I wish I had made a few different choices while in school. I am very fortunate and grateful to have a pause on student loan interest at the moment. It is allowing me to save thousands upon thousands of dollars (which I believe makes up for a few of my regrettable financial choices). I have learned from my mistakes and am making a lot more conscious decisions regarding money in the pursuit of financial independence. I hope that future and current PA students learn from my mistakes and set themselves up for financial success in the future.