Thanks to a $1 billion gift from billionaire Mike Bloomberg, the majority of students at Johns Hopkins’ medical school will be able to enroll without paying tuition as of this autumn.
The institution said on Monday that tuition will be covered for students from households making less than $300,000, while living costs and tuition will be covered for those making less than $175,000.
The average amount of student loan debt held by Johns Hopkins medical school graduates in the 2023–2024 academic year was $105,000, according to the university.
“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,” Bloomberg said in a statement.
After earning his degree from Johns Hopkins in 1964, Bloomberg co-founded the global software, data, financial, and media corporation Bloomberg L.P. From 2002 until 2013, he also served as the mayor of New York City. The Boston-born billionaire joins several well-known philanthropists who have made contributions to medical schools around the nation in order to cancel out tuition fees.
Bloomberg has made significant gifts to his former university in the past, most notably a $1.8 billion donation for financial aid for undergraduates in 2018. In 2021, he also collaborated with the school on the Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative, a $150 million endowment initiative that supports historically underrepresented students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields.
Additional financial help for graduate students at the Peabody Institute, an arts conservatory, and the schools of public health and nursing, education, engineering, business, government and policy, arts and sciences, and international studies will also benefit from his donation.
