Tuition and budget
The post-professional D.P.T. student cost of attendance budget is based on an academic year that consists of three trimesters of four months each. Your financial aid is determined by your course load each trimester and your enrollment status. You must maintain at least a half-time status for financial aid eligibility and each trimester you must apply for funds.
Tuition
2012-2013 Academic Year
- DMU alumni and preceptors – $480 per credit hour*
- Non-alumni – $532 per credit hour*
*Tuition, fees and policies for the University education programs are subject to change. To link to the Accounting website click HERE.
Books and supplies
- Full-time budget: $300 (registered for 9 or more credit hours per trimester)
- Half-time budget: $150 (registered for 5 credit hours, but less than 9 credit hours per trimester)
These budgets are based on one trimester of four months duration.
To calculate your trimester cost of attendance budget, multiply your registered credit hours by the amount of your tuition per credit hour. Add the result to your full-time or half-time sub total expense budget. The result is your trimester budget.
Students are only eligible to receive funding to cover direct educational costs: tuition, fees and books.
Financial aid at Des Moines University
Before you commit to a high cost program of study, you must plan. Follow these steps:
- Keep in mind that according to Federal regulations, the budget is constructed for a single student only.
- Review all your sources of financial support. These can include parental support or support from relatives or from friends. If you are married, your spouse’s income will be a major source. You may also have located grants or scholarships through companies or corporations, fraternal organizations or religious groups. While many of these kinds of scholarships may be modest, any money you do not have to borrow and repay with interest is always welcome.
- Review your current debts. If you have already taken student loans, can payment be deferred? If so, will interest be charged while you are in one of our programs? Do you have a high car payment that can be paid-off or can you trade down for a less expensive car? Do you have high credit card debt? Can you reduce those balances to zero before starting? High credit card limits, multiple cards and excessive debt can keep you from obtaining certain loans.
- Review your credit rating. Now is the time to look at your credit report, not after you enroll. If you have ever taken bankruptcy, defaulted on a student loan, had a tax lien or a civil judgment entered against you, you will have great difficulty in obtaining student loans. And, increasingly lenders are refusing to make student loans if you are a habitual slow pay on your accounts. Obtain a credit report now. For a credit report, call Equifax at 800-997-2493, Experian (formerly TRW) at 888-397-3742, or TransUnion at 800-888-4213.
- Check current student loan debt. Please be aware all loan programs have aggregate loan maximums based on your program. If you have considerable student loan debt please plan accordingly.
- Plan a realistic expense budget. We prepare official cost of attendance budgets for all of our programs for each year of the program. However, you must regard our budgets as guidelines, not a required amount you must spend. Our overall advice in regard to spending is to plan a minimal expense budget; that is, you should start with a survivalist attitude. Ask yourself what are the absolute minimums you must have in order to survive. Remember that every dollar you do not borrow is a dollar fifty or more you do not repay to a bank. Track your expenditures carefully and do not be tempted to exceed your budget. Have some money set aside for those inevitable emergencies.
- Become informed about how much money you can earn and do not be mislead by stories and reports about fantastically high incomes. What are the average starting incomes in your field, how much can you expect to earn after five years, what are the ranges of income, low to high? If you are entering a medical field that requires an internship/residency, what can you earn during that training time? Then, take any gross income and reduce it by at least twenty five to thirty percent for federal, state and social security/Medicare taxes. What is left is what you will have for 1), student loan repayment, and 2) then your living expenses.
- Start a record keeping system for all of your loans and awards, including mailings you receive from lenders. Seek help or advice if you do not understand the terms of any loan.