As you consider ways to pay for dental school, there are some important
questions you should ask that will help ensure you don’t miss anything in terms
of getting access to the best financial aid possible. This includes knowing how to borrow
responsibly if you have to take out student loans and having access to
resources that help prepare you for repaying your loans responsibly after you
graduate.
- What is the estimated total cost of my
dental degree over the entire length of the program, including tuition and fees, living and
other program related expenses?
- How much income am I potentially giving
up by going to dental school instead of working? This is called an “opportunity cost”
and should be considered when looking at the total cost of your dental
education, because it represents lost income while you’re in dental school.
- Are there any outside scholarships (not
from the school) that I
might be eligible for that might help reduce how much I have to borrow for
dental school?
- Are there any family members who might
be interested in helping
me pay for dental school that might also help reduce how much I have to borrow?
- Would I be willing to consider a
service-commitment scholarship program, such as the Armed Forces or the National
Health Service Corps, to help pay for my dental education?
- Does my dental school offer any gift
assistance in the form
of grants and scholarships? If so, what are they based on? (For example, need
or merit, or both.) How do I apply for them and when are the deadlines for
applying?
- Are there any third- or fourth-year
dental students at the school that I am planning to attend who I could connect
with to get their take
on paying for dental school, including any advice about borrowing?
- Once in dental school, do I plan to live
like a student or a practicing dentist? In other words, enter dental school understanding
that the financial rewards of being a dentist will eventually come, but that
during school, I need to set a realistic budget and stick to it.
- Do I currently have a budget and am I good at sticking to it?
- Have I carefully and thoroughly reviewed
all the information on financing a dental education through Money Matters
on the ADEA GoDental
site? Have I accessed the AAMC/ADEA Dental Loan Organizer and
Calculator (DLOC) to
help track my borrowing and manage repayment after I graduate?
About
Paul Garrard, M.B.A.:
Paul S. Garrard, M.B.A.
Founder and President
PGPresents, LLC
Independent Student Loan Consulting
ADEA Senior Advisor for Student Financial Services
With more than 35 years of experience in higher education and student financial aid, Paul Garrard is one of the most well-known and in-demand educational debt management experts in the nation, especially in the health professions communities. Mr. Garrard currently serves
as a consultant for the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) as their Senior Advisor for Student Financial Services.
He has extensive experience in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors of higher education. In 2008, he started his own consulting firm, PGPresents, LLC, designed to help promote responsible borrowing and responsible repayment.
His specialty is helping health professions graduates, including dental school graduates, manage their student loan portfolios by helping them develop repayment strategies that meet their career and financial goals. He also uses this expertise through ADEA to help inform
incoming dental students about borrowing responsibly.
He is a nationally known speaker on financing a dental education and is a regular speaker at the ADEA GoDental Recruitment Event held prior to the ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Samford University and an M.B.A. from the University of Georgia. Mr. Garrard works out of his home in Shepherdstown, WV.