Scholarships
The first step you’ll want to take, once you’re admitted and have made any possible deposits, is to look into scholarship options. Check your school’s website or talk to a representative to learn about available scholarships. Oftentimes, schools will have scholarships open to their students, or you might be able to find third-party scholarships online that can go towards tuition or living expenses — if you’re looking into available options for a variety of medical assistant training programs (or any other healthcare training program), a great resource to have on hand is EduMed’s Scholarship Central!
Workforce development programs
Workforce development programs are government-sponsored programs that provide grants and scholarships for certain technical training schools. You may be able to cover partial or full tuition for your medical assistant training program through these.
You’ll need to contact your specific school to learn if they offer assistance through these programs.
Out of pocket upfront
Once you’ve looked into scholarships and workforce development programs, paying out of pocket is your next best option — as long as you have enough money saved up to cover tuition, supplies, and living expenses. While this method does have the highest upfront cost, you won’t owe any money in interest, there’s no credit check, and you won’t have to worry about making monthly payments!
Interest-free payment plans
For those who are unable to pay the full tuition cost upfront, some schools offer payment plan options to allow students to make several smaller payments over the duration of the program. This lessens the upfront cost, and it includes no credit check and no interest — so you’ll ultimately pay less than you would with a loan. However, payments are spread over a much shorter period of time, so though you’ll pay less overall, your monthly payments will be higher.
Student loans
A student loan can be a good option for students who need to make the smallest monthly payments, rather than larger payments or all upfront. While not all medical assistant schools offer federal student loans, private student loans may still be available. Depending on the loan terms available for your program, you may have the option of full deferral, interest-only deferral, or immediate full repayment.
Some things you’ll want to keep in mind, though, are that loans come with an interest rate, so you’ll end up paying more than the tuition amount. Your credit will also be pulled once loan funds are sent, so your credit score may be impacted — although, Climb only performs a hard credit pull once a loan is funded, so you can submit an application with no impact to your credit score!* Ultimately, you’ll need to consider what works best for your situation — smaller monthly payments while paying more overall, or higher monthly payments while paying less overall.
*Climb performs a “soft” credit pull to evaluate eligibility, but this soft credit check will not affect your credit score. A hard credit pull is only performed once the loan is accepted and funded.