A $1B Donation to Johns Hopkins Makes Med School Free for Most

By Jessica Blake

Johns Hopkins University has received a new gift of $1 billion from Bloomberg Philanthropies, which will allow the majority of the university’s medical students to attend tuition-free, the university announced Monday.

The historic donation will also help many medical students cover living expenses and provide some financial aid for students from middle- and low-income backgrounds enrolled in nursing and other health care–related graduate programs.

“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,” Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies, said in a press release. “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.”

Beginning this fall, Hopkins will offer free tuition for any student pursuing a medical degree who comes from a family earning less than $300,000, a figure that applies to 95 percent of all Americans and nearly 66 percent of current and entering medical students at the university. Students with a family income of up to $175,000 will also receive cost-of-living aid.

This is the second major financial aid gift Bloomberg has made to his alma mater over the past six years; in 2018, he donated $1.8 billion, which allowed undergraduate admissions to become 100 percent need blind.

“Extraordinary talent exists in every community across America, a fact borne out by the transformative impact of Mike Bloomberg’s historic gift for financial aid to Hopkins undergraduates six years ago that dramatically expanded the breadth of experience and accomplishment of our student body,” said Hopkins president Ron Daniels. “Removing financial barriers to individual opportunity fuels excellence, innovation, and discoveries that redound to the benefit of society.”