Bloomberg Philanthropies announced on July 8 a $1 billion gift to Johns Hopkins University that will cover the tuition for most of the school’s medical students.
Beginning in the fall, tuition will be paid in full for medical students whose families earn less than $300,000. In addition, living expenses and fees will be covered for those whose families earn $175,000 or less.
Currently, about two-thirds of all medical students at Johns Hopkins qualify for financial aid, according to Bloomberg Philanthropies. The average student loan debt for future doctors totals approximately $104,000.
The gift will also increase financial aid for students at the schools of nursing, public health, and other graduate schools.
“As the U.S. struggles to recover from a disturbing decline in life expectancy, our country faces a serious shortage of doctors, nurses, and public health professionals—and yet, the high cost of medical, nursing, and graduate school too often bars students from enrolling,” Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg LP, said in a statement on July 8.
“By reducing the financial barriers to these essential fields, we can free more students to pursue careers they’re passionate about—and enable them to serve more of the families and communities who need them the most.”
Mr. Bloomberg received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1964.
In 2018, Bloomberg Philanthropies gifted $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins to ensure undergraduate students are accepted regardless of their families’ incomes.
The announcement makes Johns Hopkins the latest medical school in the United States to offer free tuition to most or all of its medical students.
Earlier this year, Ruth Gottesman, a former professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City and the widow of a Wall Street investor, announced she was donating $1 billion to the college. Four-year students immediately received free tuition, and all other students will be offered free tuition in the fall.
In 2018, Kenneth and Elaine Langone gave $100 million to New York University Grossman School of Medicine through an endowment fund to pay tuition for all and future medical students. Five years later, the couple gifted $200 million to the NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine to guarantee free tuition for all medical students. Mr. Langone is a co-founder of Home Depot.
Other medical schools, such as the University of California–Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, offer merit-based scholarships thanks to some $146 million in donations from recording industry mogul David Geffen. The Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine has also offered tuition-free education for medical students since 2008.
Until now, there have been only a handful of $1 billion donations to universities in the United States, with most occurring in the past several years.
In 2022, venture capitalist John Doerr and his wife, Ann, gave $1.1 billion to Stanford University for a new school focusing on climate change.
Since 2022, McPherson College in Kansas has received two matching pledges from an anonymous donor totaling $1 billion. The small liberal arts school, which has about 800 enrolled students, offers an automotive restoration program and is located about 57 miles north of Wichita, Kansas.
Mr. Bloomberg gave $3 billion to charities in 2023, making him one of the largest donors in the United States, according to research by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
