All costs — tuition, books, housing and food — will be covered for those who qualify for aid.
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Cornell University’s medical school announced on Monday that it would make the cost of attendance free for all students who qualify for financial aid, entering a roiling debate over student debt and the rising cost of higher education in the United States.
Beginning with the current academic year, eligible students at the school, Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, will have not just their tuition covered by scholarships but all costs — including housing, food, books and educational expenses. The program makes Weill Cornell the latest of several medical schools that have recently announced aggressive aid programs intended to cut down or eliminate the cost of attendance.
“Student debt has been in the national discussion for a long time and we have been planning, strategizing and raising money,” said Dr. Augustine M.K. Choi, the dean of Weill Cornell Medicine and provost for medical affairs at Cornell University. “It’s the right time to offer debt-free medical education.”
Of Weill Cornell’s 373 students, 52 percent qualify for need-based aid. A single year at the school — which sits in one of America’s most expensive ZIP codes, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan — costs more than $90,000, according to Weill Cornell. With need-based grants for the last academic year averaging about $38,000, students often rely on federal loans to bridge the difference. The average debt for a graduate of the program this year was $156,851.
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Students learned of the surprise gift on Monday morning at a campus event. September was the natural time for such an announcement, said Jessica M. Bibliowicz, chairman of the Weill Cornell Medicine Board of Overseers.
“We want those first-year students to know that this is what is going to happen as they go through their medical studies,” Ms. Bibliowicz said. “They can make the kind of choices they want to make in their medical career.”
First-year students are the biggest beneficiaries, but the program will apply to all eligible students going forward. The new gift will not cover costs already paid. For this academic year, need-based loans that have been distributed will be “converted” to scholarship, the school said, and those students will need only to complete some paperwork in the next few weeks.
While doctors and medical workers can be among the highest-earning professionals in the country, they are also among those saddled with the most school debt. The average medical school graduate carries $200,000 of student debt, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. That burden can be compounded by years of work as residents and fellows at modest salaries.
Concerns that young doctors pressured by debt were entering higher-paying specialized fields rather than pursuing pediatrics or family medicine have prompted several institutions — including two other prominent medical schools in New York — to offer more aggressive aid programs.
In 2017, Columbia University’s medical school announced a new endowment that it said would eliminate the need for student loans for its future medical students; the neediest would also have living expenses covered. The David Geffen School of Medicine at U.C.L.A. offers full rides to about 20 percent of its entering classes, though the awards are based on merit, not need. And last August, New York University’s School of Medicine said that it would cover tuition for all its current and future students.
Weill Cornell already had a scholarship endowment of $150 million, before it announced a new $160 million gift on Monday. The school needs about $50 million more in the coming years to ensure that the program continues in perpetuity, Dr. Choi said, adding that he felt “very confident” that it would reach that number.
The school said that the gifts came, in large part, from the Starr Foundation as well as Joan and Sanford I. Weill and the Weill Family Foundation. The Weills are the institution’s biggest benefactors.
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“We all know that philanthropy is finite,” said Ms. Bibliowicz, who is also the Weills’ daughter. “And there are many, many needs out there for our medical school, continued science and clinical care, but we really felt that this was the best use of philanthropic dollars.”
Discussions over student debt have intensified in recent months as Democratic presidential candidates and prominent citizens have floated ambitious plans to make higher education debt-free. Many have welcomed these plans, but others have pushed back, citing high costs or what they see as bitter unfairness to those who have diligently paid down their student loans.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has proposed eliminating all student debt, while Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts wants to wipe out a substantial portion of it. Both are also seeking trillion-dollar plans to make undergraduate programs at public colleges and universities free.
But about 40 percent of all student debt goes to finance graduate degrees, according to the Department of Education.
The Student Debt Crisis
More on the challenges of paying for medical school.
Adeel Hassan is a reporter and editor on the National Desk. He is a founding member of Race/Related, and much of his work focuses on identity and discrimination. He started the Morning Briefing for NYT Now and was its inaugural writer. He also served as an editor on the International Desk. @adeelnyt
