Large Gift Covers Costs for Johns Hopkins Medical Classes
2024-07-14
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1Most medical students at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland will no longer pay for classes thanks to a $1 billion gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
2Starting in the autumn, the gift will cover costs for classes, or tuition, for medical students who come from families earning less than $300,000.
3Living expenses and other costs will be covered for students from families who earn up to $175,000.
4Bloomberg Philanthropies said that almost two-thirds of all students currently seeking a doctor of medicine degree from Johns Hopkins meet the requirements for financial aid.
5And 45 percent of the current class will also receive living expenses.
6The school estimates that graduates' average total loans will decrease from $104,000 currently to $60,279 by 2029.
7The gift will also increase financial aid for students at the university's schools of nursing, public health, and other graduate schools.
8Michael Bloomberg is the founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg LP.
9He said in a statement recently, "By reducing the financial barriers to these essential fields,
10we 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."
11Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, received a degree in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1964.
12Ron Daniels, the president of Johns Hopkins University, said the gift will go to the university's endowment and all of the money will go directly to students.
13Daniels said that Michael Bloomberg had been moved by the difficulties that healthcare professionals faced during the pandemic "and the heroic efforts" they made to help American citizens.
14Daniels added about Bloomberg, "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."
15Bloomberg Philanthropies previously gave $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins in 2018.
16The goal was to make sure that undergraduate students could go to the school regardless of their family's finances.
17Johns Hopkins will be the latest medical school to offer free tuition to most or all of their medical students.
18In February, Ruth Gottesman, a former professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the widow of a Wall Street investor, announced that she was giving $1 billion to the New York City school.
19The gift meant that four-year students immediately received free tuition and all other students will be offered free tuition in the autumn.
20In 2018, Kenneth and Elaine Langone gave $100 million to the NYU Grossman School of Medicine to make tuition free for all current and future medical students.
21The couple gave a second gift of $200 million in 2023 to the NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine to guarantee free tuition for all medical students.
22Kenneth Langone is a co-founder of Home Depot, a large home improvement company.
23Other medical schools, like UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, offer special awards known as merit-based scholarships.
24These awards were a result of some $146 million in gifts from David Geffen, a major figure in the recording industry.
25The Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine has also offered tuition-free education for medical students since 2008.
26Candice Chen of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University has researched the social missions of medical schools.
27Chen believes medical schools are not producing enough primary care, "mental health specialists as well as the doctors who will work in and serve in rural and underserved communities."
28Chen said she would have loved to see gifts, like those to John Hopkins, NYU and Albert Einstein, go to Meharry Medical College in Tennessee, for example.
29The school is a historically Black school that has produced many primary care doctors who work in communities that have shortages of care.
30I'm John Russell.
1Most medical students at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland will no longer pay for classes thanks to a $1 billion gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies. 2Starting in the autumn, the gift will cover costs for classes, or tuition, for medical students who come from families earning less than $300,000. Living expenses and other costs will be covered for students from families who earn up to $175,000. 3Bloomberg Philanthropies said that almost two-thirds of all students currently seeking a doctor of medicine degree from Johns Hopkins meet the requirements for financial aid. 4And 45 percent of the current class will also receive living expenses. 5The school estimates that graduates' average total loans will decrease from $104,000 currently to $60,279 by 2029. 6The gift will also increase financial aid for students at the university's schools of nursing, public health, and other graduate schools. 7Michael Bloomberg is the founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg LP. He said in a statement recently, "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." 8Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, received a degree in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1964. 9Ron Daniels, the president of Johns Hopkins University, said the gift will go to the university's endowment and all of the money will go directly to students. 10Daniels said that Michael Bloomberg had been moved by the difficulties that healthcare professionals faced during the pandemic "and the heroic efforts" they made to help American citizens. 11Daniels added about Bloomberg, "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." 12Bloomberg Philanthropies previously gave $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins in 2018. The goal was to make sure that undergraduate students could go to the school regardless of their family's finances. 13Series of big gifts 14Johns Hopkins will be the latest medical school to offer free tuition to most or all of their medical students. 15In February, Ruth Gottesman, a former professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the widow of a Wall Street investor, announced that she was giving $1 billion to the New York City school. The gift meant that four-year students immediately received free tuition and all other students will be offered free tuition in the autumn. 16In 2018, Kenneth and Elaine Langone gave $100 million to the NYU Grossman School of Medicine to make tuition free for all current and future medical students. The couple gave a second gift of $200 million in 2023 to the NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine to guarantee free tuition for all medical students. 17Kenneth Langone is a co-founder of Home Depot, a large home improvement company. 18Other medical schools, like UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, offer special awards known as merit-based scholarships. These awards were a result of some $146 million in gifts from David Geffen, a major figure in the recording industry. The Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine has also offered tuition-free education for medical students since 2008. 19Candice Chen of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University has researched the social missions of medical schools. Chen believes medical schools are not producing enough primary care, "mental health specialists as well as the doctors who will work in and serve in rural and underserved communities." 20Chen said she would have loved to see gifts, like those to John Hopkins, NYU and Albert Einstein, go to Meharry Medical College in Tennessee, for example. The school is a historically Black school that has produced many primary care doctors who work in communities that have shortages of care. 21I'm John Russell. 22Michelle Chapman and Thalia Beaty reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 23_________________________________________________ 24Words in This Story 25graduate - adj. describes a person who has completed a program of study; relating to or engaged in studies beyond the bachelor's degree 26essential -- adj. of the utmost importance 27passionate - adj. expressing intense feeling 28enable - v. to make possible 29endowment - n. the part of an institution's income that comes from donations or gifts 30undergraduate - n. a student at a college or university who has not received a bachelor's degree 31widow - n. a woman who has lost her spouse or partner by death 32merit -- n. character, conduct, or performance deserving reward