Why are American universities and med schools so expensive when other countries are doing it right?

[ucbalumnus]

@EconPop

@OneWhoTalks;d-2158717

Probably beating a dead horse but you have to admit, it’s adults abusing young people for money. Should this even be legal to do?

The high cost of a medical school education is offset by the incredibly high return in the form of postgraduate earnings. I don’t think many 60-year old physicians regret their career choice because medical school was too expensive.

However, the 60 year old physicians attended medical school 35-39 years ago when it was less expensive (inflation adjusted). In 1980, private medical school tuition was about $10k (equivalent to $33k now), while (presumably in-state) public medical school tuition was about $3k (equivalent to $10k now); see https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/pdf/10.1377/hlthaff.7.2.144 (exhibit 11; note the rapid rise in tuition starting in the late 1970s).