The news is shaking up the education world: New York University School of Medicine just announced that all current and future medical students can attend without paying a dime in tuition.
From the press release:
NYU School of Medicine announced today that it is offering full-tuition scholarships to all current and future students in its MD degree program regardless of need or merit—a bold effort to simultaneously address the rising costs of medical education and still attract the best and brightest students to careers in medicine. It is the only top 10–ranked medical school in the nation to do so.
anner ampforwp-incontent-ad1">The announcement from the medical school’s trustees, leaders, and faculty was delivered this morning to first-year medical students and family members as a surprise ending to the annual White Coat Ceremony, where each new student is presented with a white lab coat to mark the start of their medical education and training.
“Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of our trustees, alumni, and friends, our hope—and expectation—is that by making medical school accessible to a broader range of applicants, we will be a catalyst for transforming medical education nationwide,” says Kenneth G. Langone, chair of the Board of Trustees of NYU Langone Health. The yearly tuition costs covered by the scholarship are $55,018.
“This decision recognizes a moral imperative that must be addressed, as institutions place an increasing debt burden on young people who aspire to become physicians,” says Robert I. Grossman, MD, the Saul J. Farber Dean of NYU School of Medicine and CEO of NYU Langone Health.
The yearly tuition at NYU School of Medicine is $55,018. Many graduate with staggering debt. That debt may make attending medical school cost-prohibitive, reducing the number of doctors and negatively impacting healthcare.
The news is particularly beneficial for people of color. There is a crisis in the number of black people applying to medical school.
A lack of black doctors is overall detrimental to the black community. A recent Johns Hopkins School of Medicine study shows that black doctors generally have more positive attitudes toward patients.