Educational Debt and Income Among Pharmacists and Other Health Professionals

Abstract

ObjectiveGiven substantial increases in student educational loan debt in recent years, the objective was to assess trends in educational debt-to-income ratios for graduates of pharmacy, medicine, dentistry, optometry, and veterinary medicine programs in the United States for the period of 2017 to 2022. MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted of 2017 to 2022 data for educational debt and income for select health professions. Annual income data were collected from the American Community Survey, and educational debt data were collected from health professions organizations. Educational debt-to-income ratios for each health profession were calculated, as was mean change per year in debt-to-income ratio. ResultsWith the exception of medicine, educational debt consistently exceeded income across pharmacy and the other health professions for the period of 2017 to 2022. Debt-to-income ratios of pharmacists and the remaining health professionals decreased on average per year between 2017 and 2022. Physicians had the lowest debt-to-income ratios and dentists had the highest debt-to-income ratios for the study period. ConclusionDebt-to-income ratios fell to below 2017 levels for the health professions of interest, suggesting average growth in income outpaced that of debt for the study period. Regardless, debt remains high and may influence health care professionals’ postgraduate training and career decisions, and in turn affect access to health care. Therefore, a call to action is proposed to address educational debt burden. Several strategies are suggested including federal policy changes, implementing tuition reductions or minimal increases, facilitating financial aid options, and reducing underlying costs of health professions programs.