As of 2018, 37-year-old orthodontist Mike Meru owed $1,060,945 in student loans, the Wall Street Journal reported — a small sum compared with the $2 million loan balance he's expected to face in two decades.
Meru pays about $1,590 a month — 10% of his monthly income, but not enough to cover the interest. At this rate, his debt grows by $130 a day, according to the Journal.
As the graph above shows, dental school is the most expensive professional-degree program in the US. During the 2015-16 school year, private nonprofit dental schools charged on average more than $71,000, while public in-state dental schools charged about $38,000, according to the Urban Institute.
Average tuition for private medical schools charged $53,240, and public in-state medical schools charged $28,720. Law-school tuition isn't far behind. Private law school cost $47,450 on average in 2016, and public in-state tuition was nearly $19,000 less.
While dentists, doctors, and lawyers make six-figure salaries, many have student debt that outweighs their income. Though dental school has the highest price tag on average for a professional degree, dentists aren't the highest-paid professionals. The median-earning dentist in the US makes $151,440 a year, and the median-earning physician makes at least $208,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.