Abstract
The cost of education is rising, increasing student financial aid and debt for students pursuing higher education. A few studies have assessed the impact of student debt in medicine, physical therapy and social work, but little is known about the impact of student debt on genetic counseling students and graduates. To address this gap in knowledge, a web-based study of 408 recent alumni of genetic counseling programs in North America was conducted to assess the impact of student debt on program, career and life choices. Over half (63 %; n = 256/408) of the participants reported that loans were extremely important in their ability to attend their training program, with most using subsidized loans no longer available to current graduate students. While participants were generally satisfied with their genetic counseling education, 83 % (n = 282/342) of participants with student debt reported feeling burdened by their debt, which had a median of $40,000–$50,000. This debt is relatively close to the median starting salary reported by survey participants ($45,000–$50,000), breaching the “20-10 rule” that states student debt should not exceed 20 % of annual net income. In response to this critical issue, we propose recommendations for the genetic counseling field that may help alleviate student debt impact and burden.
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Acknowledgments
We gratefully appreciate the expertise of John Stevenson at the UW Survey Center and Inate Yoon for their help with survey development, and to Susan Fischer at the Financial Aid Office at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. We thank, Amy Lemke for her insightful comments and suggestions. Funding for the survey incentive was provided by an institutional (233) gift account through the University of Wisconsin – Madison Genetic Counseling Training Program.
Disclosure of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The authors have full control of the primary data, which is available for review by the journal if requested.
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Kuhl, A., Reiser, C., Eickhoff, J. et al. Genetic Counseling Graduate Student Debt: Impact on Program, Career and Life Choices. J Genet Counsel 23, 824–837 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-014-9700-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-014-9700-0