From Dr. Daniel Barron’s “Why Doctors Are Drowning in Medical School Debt” in Scientific American’s Observations blog.
Each year, only 41 percent of applicants are accepted into medical school. Because demand outstrips supply, medical schools have the economic upper hand and, because lenders invariably approve loans to cover tuition, schools can effectively set the price of tuition to be whatever they want. College kids who don’t like it need not apply—somewhere in the remaining 59 percent, an applicant is willing to pay.
[…]
Each year a class of new doctors graduates with a total of $2.6 billion in loans, with a median student debt of $194,000. And no one—not even the regulator tasked with protecting students—can say where this money goes.
He interviews the dean that made NYU tuition-free, who provides some interesting quotations. Also, if you read the article, please note that the Barrons need a new accountant.