NY medical school offers free tuition for all future med students following a P56 billion donation
Free tuition, anyone? Sana all!
Starting August of this year, all future students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine will get free tuition, while current fourth-year students will also receive reimbursement for their tuition for the spring 2024 semester. This is after Ruth Gottesman, a former clinical professor of pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, made a $1 billion (P56 billion) donation to the school.
"I'm happy to share with you that starting August this year, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine will be tuition-free," Gottesman said in a video posted by the Montefiore Health System on X.
This "transformational and historic gift" was the "largest donation to any medical school in the country." With this amount, it ensures that "no student at Einstein will have to pay tuition again." Additionally, it would motivate students to explore endeavors they might have previously considered out of reach.
"We will be reminded of the legacy this historic gift represents each spring as we send another diverse class of physicians out across the Bronx and around the world to provide compassionate care and transform their communities," Dr. Yaron Tomer, the Marilyn and Stanley Katz Dean at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said in a statement.
We are profoundly grateful that Dr. Ruth Gottesman, Professor Emerita of Pediatrics at @EinsteinMed, has made a transformational gift to #MontefioreEinstein—the largest to any medical school in the country—that ensures no student has to pay tuition again. https://t.co/XOy9HZLbfD pic.twitter.com/1ijv02jHFk
— Montefiore Health System (@MontefioreNYC) February 26, 2024
According to its website, the donation seeks to lift future medical leaders of the burden of student debt, allowing them to pursue their passions. Additionally, it aims to attract a wider, more diverse range of talent into medicine, ensuring access for those who might have been excluded due to financial barriers.
Gottesman began working in 1968 at the Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC) of Einstein. She revolutionized support for children with learning disabilities, with methods like assessment, screening, and therapy.
In 1992, she launched the first-ever adult literacy program at CERC which is still running up to the present. As a clinical professor emeritus, she teaches pediatrics (developmental medicine) at Einstein.
The 93-year-old philanthropist has more than 55 years of association with the College of Medicine. She and her late husband, David S. Gottesman, have been "enormously generous donors in the past to Einstein’s innovative research and education initiatives."