What NYU's Stunning Move To Give All Medical Students Free Tuition Really Means

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

On Thursday, NYU made a stunning announcement: All of the renowned institution's medical students will be awarded full tuition scholarships. That includes current students, the remainder of whose tuition will be covered under the program, and every single incoming and future medical student at the NYU School of Medicine, in perpetuity, whose tuition costs will be covered in full, according to the university. That's a first for any medical college in America.

This is, it goes without saying, not a cheap endeavor. The yearly tuition costs covered under this medical scholarship amount to just over physicians,”said Dr. Robert I. Grossman, Dean of NYU School of Medicine and CEO of NYU Langone Health in a statement.

The crushing weight of debt that medical education places on students-debt that averaged some and minority students aspiring to become healers may forgo those dreams out of financial apprehension; those who do attend may feel pressure to pursue niche medical specialties that pay higher salaries so they can recoup their tuition costs rather than pursue broader primary care careers.

The latter reality is particularly problematic since, according to the AAMC, there is a projected doctor shortage of between 42,600 and 121,300 physicians relative to Americans' health care needs by 2030. While that figure includes estimated shortages for both specialists and general practitioners, the NYU program could theoretically reduce the burden of entry to either and, the hope goes, free up would-be doctors to pursue the careers they want to begin with.