New York Medical School Eliminates Tuition After $1bn Gift
- Michelle Zhu
- Mar 4, 2024
- 1 min read
The Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a medical school in New York City that will offer students free tuition following a $1bn donation. The donation comes from Dr Ruth Gottesman, a former professor at the school.
According to Einstein, approximately 60% of its current first-year students are women, and a majority of the class are people of color.
The Einstein is also located in the Bronx, which is New York City’s poorest borough and the unhealthiest of the state’s counties. In a statement by university dean Dr Yaron Tomer, he emphasizes the importance of “attracting students who are committed to [the] mission, not just those who can afford it”.
Tuition at Einstein is $59,458 USD per year, which translates to over $80,000 CAD per year. The average medical school debt in the U.S. is $202,453 USD, excluding undergraduate debt, according to the Education Data Initiative.
Dr Ruth Gottesman’s gift is one of the largest ever donations made to a US school and is the largest ever made to a medical school. Fortunately, donations and grants to medical schools are precedent across North America.
These kinds of gifts and grants are commonly used to financially aid students while also boosting medical professionals in underserved areas. In the past few years, many grants have been awarded to both US and Canadian medical organizations in an attempt to address national physician shortages.
A recent example in Ontario is the ‘Learn and Stay’ government grant, which provides total upfront funding for tuition, books, and other costs for healthcare students if they work for a certain amount of time after graduation in underserved areas.
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