$1bn donation means students at New York medical school will pay no tuition

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Mon 26 Feb 2024 13.04 EST


A New York City medical school plans to be tuition-free for students after a $1bn donation from a wealthy donor.

The Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx borough received the sizable donation from Dr Ruth Gottesman, a 93-year-old former professor at the school, the New York Times first reported on Monday. “I’m happy to share with you that starting in August this year, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine will be tuition free,” Gottesman announced to rapturous applause in a video posted to X on Monday.

While teaching at Einstein, Gottesman developed new diagnostic modalities and treatments for children with learning disabilities. She also ran an adult literacy program.

The donation is among the largest to date for an educational institution in the US, the Times reported. Gottesman received the money from her late husband, David Gottesman, who went by Sandy, the Times reported.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/26/tuition-free-medical-school-donation-ruth-gottesman-albert-einstein-new-york

[pfitz59]

1. Still need to be admitted

but what a boon. I wish ALL qualified candidates could attend tuition free. (ala Cuba). A great crime in our society is that specialists in short supply (doctors, defense attorneys, pilots, teachers etc) have to take on so much debt to reach their goal.

[Walleye]

3. I agree. Can't believe the cost of college. I went 2 years at LA city college for free in the 1970s

[Grins]

10. And then came Reagan.... NM

[Walleye]

19. Yep, he had been governor of California, but he sure screwed up education

[FakeNoose]

2. This is a game-changer for many who qualify but can't afford med school tuition

I'm so happy for the students who will benefit from Dr. Gottesman's largess.

Please DO NOT do this for any law schools. We have too many lawyers already.
We need as many doctors, engineers and scientists as we can get ... but no more lawyers.

[Aussie105]

6. +1

Sounds like this was targeted very thoughtfully.

[onetexan]

17. Hope other med schools follow suit

Likewise with law schools as well.

[cornball 24]

4. Great News! Now it's time for the drug corporations and insurance giants to

pony up.

[Aussie105]

5. Investing in the future of the country?

A noble idea indeed!

Need more rich people to do this!

(A rare occurrence where 'trickle down' actually means something. But this one is a flood!)

[Think. Again.]

7. Wonderful!

...it's about time someone started caring about the U.S. having an educated population!

[riversedge]

8. whow. How wonderful for the medical students.

[Hekate]

9. Dear billionaires: more of this, please!

[chouchou]

11. Elon Musk is going to do something like that.

Also, I'm Taylor Swift.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. My younger son graduated high school in 2005.

He was very aware of the costs of college, even though his very generous (and I thank them a lot) grandparents had already financed his future college with a 529 account. And actually, while they were still alive they insisted on paying his college costs.

When I told him that back when I first started college in Arizona in 1965 (and I'm VERY aware that state college costs varied and still vary widely) that it was possible to work a minimum wage job, live at home, save most of that money, and pay basic tuition, fees, and books. It should still be the same.

I am enraged when people who went to college decades ago and who could pay for it readily, think that kids today should find it equally easy. The thing is, states have stopped funding the state schools in any significant way. That is totally wrong. In every single state college students should be able to go to school for a minimal cost. So if I need to pay higher state taxes, that's fine. And honestly, the way these things get spread out I'm probably be on the hook for $15 a year. And even if it's $100/year, that's not all that much money. And kids deserve college.

[electric_blue68]

13. What wonderful news! There could be some majorly talented pontential students that wouldn't get the chance otherwise....

And lifts the burden for everyone attending. 👍

[CoopersDad]

14. The Cooper Union on Astor Place was free, it's the best.

I'm happy to hear that an endowment has created this new free school.

Cooper Union's Art, Architecture, and Engineering degree programs were free until relatively recently.

I completed the Architecture program.

[niyad]

16. The Albert Einstein School of Medicine in the Bronx is not new, but it will

indeed be free starting with this fall's incoming class.

[onetexan]

18. I hope they will keep the residual money invested

After tuitions are paid to keep funding more tuitions of students going fwd in perpetuity.
We so desperately need good doctors and low cost healthcare overall.

[niyad]

22. Why would you think that they would not?

[CoopersDad]

20. I meant to say "new program", not new school.

So many of the best aren't new, not by a long shot.

Cheers for free education and philanthropy!

[niyad]

21. EXACTLY!!!

[niyad]

15. An important point in the article about the Albert Einstein School of

Medicine in the Bronx. Many of its students are New Yorkers, a majority are women, and a large percentage are People of Color. Up to now students from Einstein have faced some of the highest debt upon graduating.