Bronx Institution to Undergo Changes in August, Waiving Tuition for the Spring 2024 Semester
Gifts Reflect the Trend of Major Donations to Medical Schools for Tuition Relief
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, located in New York, will offer free tuition after a $1 billion donation from its board chair—a gift that stands as the largest ever to an American medical school. The Bronx institution, affiliated with the Montefiore Health System, will commence tuition-free education in August, according to a Monday announcement. This includes compensation for all fourth-year students for their spring 2024 semester tuition.
The donor, Ruth Gottesman, a former professor at the medical school and current member of the Montefiore board, is the widow of financier David Gottesman. The couple previously gave the college a $25 million gift in 2008.
Gottesman told The New York Times that this gift will enable students to graduate from medical school debt-free and broaden their classes to include those who might otherwise be unable to afford attendance.
The gift and its intended use reflect a growing trend among medical schools aiming to attract students interested in attending tuition-free.
New York University announced in 2018 that it would offer full scholarships to all medical students. The Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, affiliated with the Kaiser Permanente Health System, opened its first five incoming classes in 2020 with a promise of free tuition.
The inaugural class at Albert Einstein consists of 183 students, with 59% being women and nearly half hailing from New York.
Dr. Yaron Tomer, the college's dean, stated in a release, "This gift profoundly alters our ability to attract the students who are committed to our mission, not just those who can afford it." "Moreover, it empowers our students to be independent and innovative, advancing projects and ideas that might otherwise be prohibited." While gifts of this size are rare, they are not unheard of.
In 2018, Michael Bloomberg, a businessman and former mayor of New York, pledged $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins University, where he is an alumnus, to create need-based financial aid for students.
In 2022, Stanford University received a $1.1 billion gift to establish a sustainable school. And last year, MacPherson College, a small liberal arts college in Kansas, received an anonymous $1 billion gift for its endowment.
However, medical schools have not traditionally seen gifts of this size. Exceptions include a $300 million gift in 2021 to the Western University of Health Sciences' medical program and a $75 million gift to Harvard University's medical school in early last year.
According to the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, American colleges received nearly $58 billion in donations in the fiscal year 2023. This was the second-highest year for donations after 2022, with institutions seeing an increase in gifts of over $100 million.