A majority of students who attend medical school at Johns Hopkins University will not have to pay tuition thanks to a $1 billion gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who graduated from Johns Hopkins in 1964, said his donation will also provide increased financial aid for nursing, public health and other graduate students.
“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," Bloomberg said.
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Johns Hopkins will begin offering free tuition in the fall for medical students from families who make less than $300,000 a year. Additionally, the school said Bloomberg would cover living expenses for students whose families earn up to $175,000.
Going to medical school can reportedly cost upwards of $330,000, leaving most medical school graduates with at least $200,000 of student loan debt, according to the American Medical Association.
"Removing financial barriers to individual opportunity fuels excellence, innovation, and discoveries that redound to the benefit of society," said Ron Daniels, president of Johns Hopkins University.
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This is not the first major donation Johns Hopkins has received from Bloomberg Philanthropies. In 2018, the organization gave the school $1.8 billion to be used for undergraduate financial aid. The school said the donation had a profound impact.
"The number of undergraduate students entering Hopkins from low-income backgrounds and/or who are the first in their families to attend college (FLI) has grown by 43% since the Bloomberg gift went into effect," the school said.
