Thanks to a $1 billion gift, most Johns Hopkins medical students will no longer pay tuition

Most medical students at Johns Hopkins University will no longer pay tuition thanks to a $1 billion gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Starting in the fall, the donation will cover full tuition for medical students from families earning less than $300,000. Living expenses and fees will be covered for students from families who earn up to $175,000. Bloomberg Philanthropies said that currently almost two-thirds of all students seeking a doctor of medicine degree from Johns Hopkins qualify for financial aid, and 45% of the current class will also receive living expenses. The school estimates that graduates' average total loans will decrease from $104,000 currently to $60,279 by 2029. The gift will also increase financial aid for students at the university's schools of nursing, public health, and other graduate schools. "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," Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg LP, said in a statement. Bloomberg received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1964. The gift will go to Johns Hopkins' endowment and every penny will go directly to students, said Ron Daniels, president of Johns Hopkins University. "Mike has really been moved by the challenges that the professions confronted during the course of the pandemic and the heroic efforts they've made to protecting and providing care to American citizens during the pandemic," Daniels said in an interview. "I think he simply wanted to recognize the importance of these fields and provide this support to ensure that the best and brightest could attend medical school and the school of nursing and public health." Bloomberg Philanthropies previously gifted $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins in 2018 to ensure that undergraduate students are accepted regardless of their family's income. Johns Hopkins will be the latest medical school to offer free tuition to most or all of their medical students. This article was provided by The Associated Press.