The Affordability Crisis of Healthcare Education

The Department of Education’s proposed loan cap changes have sparked strong reactions across healthcare, including within occupational therapy and physical therapy circles.

Much of the conversation has focused on whether these degrees should be classified as “professional degrees” versus “graduate programs.”
But that may be the wrong fight.

In this episode, we zoom out and ask three deeper questions about the economics of certain healthcare education programs— questions that matter far more than federal loan labels.

Whether the DOE calls us “professional” or not doesn’t change the structural issues facing our professions.

What we cover in this episode:
-Why Has the Cost of Healthcare Education Become So Disconnected from Salary?
-The gap between education cost and earning power continues to widen.
-Why Have Clinical Salaries Been Flat (or Declining) in Real Terms?
-How tightening margins have forced productivity demands higher in clinical settings. 
-Why we need to focus on making healthcare degrees a valuable financial investment, rather than career fields with negative ROIs 

Full episode note: https://rehabupracticesolutions.com/better-outcomes-165

Podcast: https://www.betteroutcomes.show
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