An acupuncture school with tuition at $6K per year

I just learned of some very inspiring news!  The folks over at POCA are getting together to start up their own acupuncture school in Portland, OR.  Tuition (not including biomedical clinical science prerequisites) is targeted to be a set $6000 per year.  Check out http://www.pocatech.org.

Hopefully, the success of this program will enable it to be replicated and brought to NY.  This model school makes one wonder where all the $$$ padding is going at schools such as Pacific College of Oriental Medicine…$6K in tuition at POCATech versus $20K+ at PCOM.

Now that’s money in your pockets, folks 🙂

Student Loan Debt and a Lifetime of Poverty

Can you imagine being 24 years old and owing $70K?  That’s what Chelsea Grove owes for her aborted education at Bowling Green State University.  Please read the NY Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/business/student-loans-weighing-down-a-generation-with-heavy-debt.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all) and see how people need to live in order to pay their student loan debts.  Now imagine doing it at 28…or 34…or 45…and then imagine living that way for 10 years or longer.  Then imagine that once you’re free from student debt, you’re pretty much starting from scratch…at age 38…or 44…or 55…when your peers have passed this point and are so much ahead of you.  Is this a reality that’s appealing to you?

As unfortunate as this scenario is, it’s a very likely future for Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM) students.  If you’re set on pursuing this dead end future, ask the hard questions:  what job postings are available for acupuncturists?  how many postings for paid internships are there?  What’s the backup plan if I can’t make a decent salary as an acupuncturist?  How will I fund my retirement?  Read the POCA acupuncture community forums and see what they say about jobs, salaries and the profession (https://www.pocacoop.com/).

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/business/student-loans-weighing-down-a-generation-with-heavy-debt.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Response to PCOM’s Career Services Department

Cynthia Neipris, the director of Career Services at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine’s (PCOM) NY campus recently responded to my posting on the livelihood of acupuncturists. I considered taking the conversation offline and addressing the hurt she felt over the posting and make it clear that I am not into causing pain or distress. I re-read my posting to see if I was unfair, cruel or hateful and then I read her post again to try and see things from Cynthia’s point of view. Here are my thoughts on this:

1. My existence would be truly blissful if everything I read about myself were positive. However, this isn’t a realistic scenario. I need my friends and family to be there and tell me all the negatives so I could be an even BETTER person. I need my bosses and co-workers to tell me what they see so I could do an even BETTER job. Cynthia, you should find INSPIRATION (not censure) from my posting and CHALLENGE yourself to THINK “what MORE should I be doing to address the issues this person is writing about?” 
2. Cynthia, I’ve seen you in school in the late evenings and also on some weekends. You walk around with a tight expression on your face and, while I recall exchanging niceties with you, you never asked me about my career ambitions, my thoughts on post PCOM plans, invited/informed me of upcoming events nor invited me to sit with you. You’re the face of the career services department and should be more of an ambassador/representative. Why don’t you talk more to the students you meet? You should invite people/inspire them to come see you!
3. On that note, Cynthia, over the past decade that you’ve spent at PCOM, would you say that, between the PCOM alums and the current student body for all of the programs (massage, acupuncture, herbs), you are now (theoretically) working for 10 times the number of people you had originally? Has your department’s budget (or your salary) increased by a factor of 10? You are the only name that I associate with Career Services and that’s a shame. I think that Career Services should at least have 3-4 people staffing it. How realistic is it for *ONE* person adequately support the Career Services responsibilities for a school the size of PCOM? If you really think you’re doing a FABULOUS job right now, how much MORE do you think you could accomplish if your department staff and budget were increased? I think you should consider this – and if it’s out of your hands, let the student council know that you’d like them to spend some of their budget helping you out.
4. I’d like to make it clear that other than the small pleasantries at the elevator banks, I don’t know you. My blog is not a personal attack on you. It’s a space I created to share my opinions on how PCOM can be improved and my DIRE WARNING to potential students — DON’T GO TO PACIFIC COLLEGE OF ORIENTAL MEDICINE UNLESS YOU HAVE MONEY TO BURN.
5. Lastly, on the job front, it may help to allow current students to see the job postings alums have access to online so they can see what they’re getting themselves into.

OH MY — $250K for an acupuncture degree from PCOM?!

OH MY GOODNESS.  Check out this link to an article written in October 2011 and focus on the paragraph below:

Currently, Dr. Tsao works as a part-time professor at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, which is the largest school of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the nation. Over 70 percent of students are American, paying  tuition of  about $250,000  in a degree  granting program that takes three and a half years to complete. http://themidtowngazette.com/2011/10/acupuncture-in-new-york/

I can’t believe that over 70% of PCOM students have $2,500 to spare, much less $250,000 to spend on an education with dubious earnings potential.

So how much do acupuncturists earn?

Full disclaimer:  I am not an acupuncturist.  Rather, I am a drop out of Pacific College of Oriental Medicine’s NY campus acupuncture program.  I can only comment on what I’ve observed in the 2 years that I’ve studied.

So, you’re thinking about signing up for the Acupuncture program at Pacific College.  How much will you make?  You’ve sat through the orientations and when the question is brought up, vague reassurances are issued — mainly that acupuncture is a growing field and that the salaries are hard to track because there aren’t enough numbers. I’ve found the following blogs on the dollars and ‘sense’ of acupuncture to be very helpful — it’s written by a licensed acupuncturist, Shauna McCuaig:

https://www.communityacupuncturenetwork.org/blog/guest-blog-dollars-and-sense-information-prospective-acupuncture-and-oriental-medicine-students

http://www.communityacupuncturenetwork.org/blog/dont-go-acupuncture-school

I’m a cynical New Yorker and Shauna McCuaig’s blog sounds pretty realistic to me.  What’s even more realistic is the lack of paid opportunities available through the Career Services department of PCOM NY (Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, NY campus).

The career services department is run by Cynthia Neipris.  I’ve heard conflicting opinions on her.  Some people suspect Cynthia sits on her duff all day and has little interest in posting more jobs or helping students find positions.  Others had positive things to say, claiming that she’s a very nice woman who works very hard and is helpful.

I say…SHOW ME THE MONEY (I’ve always wanted to say that).  Check out the job postings available at PCOM, ask the students to forward you e-mails Cynthia has sent out about open positions, internships, and opportunities.  Look at the salaries being offered (low to non-existent when mentioned) from the positions that are available through PCOM’s career services.  Either Cynthia really isn’t doing her job (because honestly, there are VERY few acupuncture, massage and herbalist positions posted) or Cynthia is out there hustling for all she’s worth every single day and coming away empty handed because there’s not much available.  Which is it?  Either answer is pretty damning for prospective students who are spending hard earned money for a degree with questionable job security.

One rebuttal people may make to this posting is that acupuncture is an entrepreneurial endeavor and that most graduates/students go into private practice.  To that I say:  this is NYC, where the cost of living is amongst the highest in the nation.  To make it here with the minimum (an unlimited metrocard, cell phone, food, utilities and a rented room), you need to earn at least $35K/year.  Do you have the confidence that you’ll have enough clients, charging $60-$80/session (that’s about 600 sessions/year) to make it in the first few years?

• Cheap room share:  $800/month in the boros (there are cheaper rooms ranging from $500-$800 — I am putting up the higher figure b/c this would pretty much guarantee a legal bedroom w/a window and some degree of privacy).
• Cell phone bill:  $50/month (average)
• Metrocard:  $104
• Utilities:  $50 for electric, $20 for gas, and $40 for internet = $90
• Food:  Let’s say you eat cheap and get by on $10/day (this means $.99 menu or strictly cooking and packing lunch daily) = $300
• Sundries:  Essentials for hygiene (soap, toothpaste, shampoo, detergent), laundry, etc = $50/month
• Acupuncture malpractice insurance:  $50/month (averages $150/quarter but could be higher)
• Total= roughly $1450/month just to get by (you must see at least one client/day on a 5 day work week)

Do you want to have some extras in your life?

• Pay off student loans?  Estimate a monthly payment of $200 to service it w/the hopes of paying something towards the principle.
• A social life?  Let’s say you spend $20 each weekend/month seeing friends — ~$80/month.
• Desire to go on vacation once a year?  $800 (that’s a round trip plane ticket, if you’re lucky, plus a little extra for food and transportation) = $70/month in savings.
• Is health insurance (roughly $400-$600/month) important to you?  Let’s go with the low end (or even HealthyNY, where the cheapest option is about $250/month) which is about $400
• Total= roughly $750

You will need to earn $2200/month if you want to live a life with some enjoyment/security.  How did I estimate the $35K annual salary when 12 months x 2200=$26400?  Well, $35K after taxes is about $29,000.  Everyone needs a little extra cushion so I put in $2,600 per year towards a cheap office share (where your practice will be run), needles (cheap at about $5/box but adds up), sheets (again, laundry costs money), and office supplies.  Of course, if you can live off family, you have no worries and no major pressures.