New York City Medical School Makes Tuition Free After $1 Billion Gift

Students at a New York City medical will soon have one less thing to worry about: tuition.

A $1 billion donation to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx is guaranteeing free tuition for all students in perpetuity, it was announced Monday, with a video capturing students shocked reaction to the news.

The school is touting the donation as the largest to any medical school in the country.

This donation radically revolutionizes our ability to continue attracting students who are committed to our mission, not just those who can afford it, said Yaron Tomer, Ph.D., the schools Marilyn and Stanley Katz Dean, in a statement. Additionally, it will free up and lift our students, enabling them to pursue projects and ideas that might otherwise be prohibitive.

All current four-year students will have their tuition reimbursed for the spring 2024 semester. Then, starting in August, the school said all students would receive free tuition.

The donation, whose amount was confirmed by a school spokesperson, was given by Ruth L. Gottesman, Ph.D., and her late husband, David Sandy Gottesman. The late Gottesman was a billionaire investor and business partner of Warren Buffett prior to his death in 2022. Ruth Gottesman serves as the chair of the schools Board of Trustees and is professor emerita of pediatrics at Einstein.

He left me, unbeknownst to me, a whole portfolio of Berkshire Hathaway stock, Ruth Gottesman told The New York Times  of her late husband. The stock had instructions telling her to do whatever you think is right with it, she said.

The couple previously made donations to the school, including ones that created a stem cell and regenerative medicine institute and that supported the creation of a clinical skills center. 

We have terrific medical students, she told the Times, but this will open it up for many other students whose economic status is such that they wouldnt even think about going to medical school.

Gottesman personally announced her decision in a meeting with students on Monday morning. The students had not been told what the meeting was about, a spokesperson for the college told HuffPost.

Video capturing the moment shows shocked students jumping out of their seats and screaming when informed by Gottesman.

I am very thankful to my late husband, Sandy, for leaving these funds in my care, and l feel blessed to be given the great privilege of making this gift to such a worthy cause, Gottesman said in a statement shared by the school.

Each year, well over 100 students enter Albert Einstein College of Medicine in their quest for degrees in medicine and science, she said. They leave as superbly trained scientists and compassionate and knowledgeable physicians, with the expertise to find new ways to prevent diseases and provide the finest health care to communities here in the Bronx and all over the world.