News

For Immediate Release: 20 June 2012

OUM Cuts Tuition Fees

Recognizing the burden that the cost of attending medical school is putting on its students, Oceania University of Medicine is cutting its tuition fees to $5,000 per eight-week module, effective with term 1204, which begins August 6.

“We know that medical school is expensive and feel the pain of our students struggling to pay tuition while taking care of their families during these difficult economic times,” says Taffy Gould, Chairman of the OUM Council. “We hope that the lower tuition fee will attract more students who have been thinking about attending medical school but are deterred by the expense.”

The actual savings to undergraduate and graduate-entry students depends upon their current tuition plan, based on the rate charged in their countries. North American students will save 31 percent over the current catalogue rate. Australian students will save 34 percent, and New Zealand students will save 45 percent.

Students in those three countries will pay $5,000 per eight-week module in their currency. Those outside of those countries will continue to pay in US dollars.

The tuition fee cut also means that several OUM incentives will be discontinued. Effective with term 1204, no more academic scholarships will be awarded, and loans to new North American students will be discontinued. Current students on loan plans may continue to borrow up to half of their current tuition rate. The new $5,000 tuition fee will only be for students paying in full by cash, check, or credit card. Students in good standing may continue to pay their tuition fees in installments as described on the OUM website.

“We’re sorry to see the scholarships and loans go, but we felt it would be fairer to spread the cuts across our entire spectrum of students,” says Ms. Gould. “However, students may continue to pay their tuition fees in monthly installments with approval of the University.”

As OUM always has kept tuition fees level for students who remain in good standing by completing at least 24 weeks of instruction per year, students can count on paying their current rate at least through their preclinical program. Tuition fees for clinical clerkships may increase, depending upon where the student rotates as has always been the case at OUM.

Most clinical students will pay $5,000 per eight-week module. Four and 12-week modules will be priced at $2,500 and $7,500, respectively. The tuition fee for the 20-week e-ITM module will be $5,000. Current OUM students who have finished their preclinical modules will be able to take advantage of the existing 50 percent discount on clerkships taken in Samoa, but this option is not available to new students or students currently enrolled in preclinical modules. As some teaching hospitals in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States may charge OUM to host clinical clerkships, tuition fees for students rotating through those hospitals will pay regular tuition fees plus the surcharge levied by the host hospital.

“In addition to the tuition cut, we are keeping one incentive to encourage our students to refer their friends and colleagues,” says Ms. Gould. “For every referred student who enrolls for three or more modules, the referring student will receive a 50 percent discount from his or her next module.”

There is a five-year time limit on the discounted rate. Those students taking more than five years to graduate from the time of their enrollment will pay the prevailing tuition fees for the remainder of their program.

For more information, currently enrolled students should contact their student affairs officer, and prospective students and applicants should contact their admissions counselor.

“In addition to lower tuition fees, we are pleased to be offering a number of enhancements to the OUM curriculum and are working on many more,” says Ms. Gould. “We will be undergoing our regularly scheduled accreditation visit next year, and we expect that the reviewers will be impressed with the many improvements to our program.”

OUM is accredited by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities, listed in the World Health Organization's World Directory of Medical Schools, and recognized by the Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. Located on the grounds of the National Hospital Complex in Apia, Samoa, OUM offers MD and MBBS degrees to its graduates and has a current student body of approximately 140 from nine countries. Graduates are receiving their post-graduate residency and internship specialty training at teaching hospitals in Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, and the United States. For more information about OUM, visit www.oum.edu.ws.