Tuition Is Now Free For All Med Students At NYU

tuition is now free for med students at NYU

Wikimedia Commons/Peter Dutton

If you’re currently a college student with an undecided major, it might be a good idea to go pre-med. And if you’re thinking you can’t because the tuition for med school is way too high and you’d be saddled with student loan debt for the rest of your life, think again.

New York University (NYU) announced Thursday that it will now cover full-tuition costs for both current and future medical students, regardless of merit or need. Although NYU is making tuition free, students will still need to pay for room, board and fees, which can add up to approximately $27,000, according to the New York Times. NYU raised more than $450 million for this tuition plan, though it estimates it will need at least $600 million to fully finance it.

Other medical schools have worked to raise money for tuition-free plans as well, though NYU is the first top-ranked institution to offer scholarships for all of its students. In 2014, UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine announced that it received $100 million from David Geffen to finance all four years of its program for approximately 20 percent of its students. However, the program is based on merit and not need. Columbia University announced a similar program in 2017 after raising $250 million.

If you’re thinking free tuition for med school sounds like we’re all of a sudden living in a parallel universe, you’re not alone. But for those in the field of medicine, it’s a necessity that’s becoming a reality. The New York Times reported that schools like NYU, UCLA and Columbia, among others, are recognizing the lack of medical school graduates who pursue family medicine, pediatrics and research. Instead, they’re opting for higher-paying specialty positions that will allow them to pay off their student loan debt faster.

This is a huge breakthrough for students who dream of wearing a white coat one day but can’t imagine paying off mountains of student loan debt. In 2017, the average medical student graduated with a median student loan debt of almost $200,000, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Overall, Americans currently owe $1.5 trillion in student loan debt, according to data from the Federal Reserve, which is seriously holding people back from thriving in their careers and personal finances.

Debt is no joke, and student loans often take a while to pay back. So if you’re at the beginning of your career and are considering medical school, NYU is the place to apply. Not only will you be that much closer to becoming a doctor, bug you’ll also be just a few years away from kissing your debt woes goodbye.

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