Good news for students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York. They will not have to pay tuition fees as the 93-year-old widow of a Wall Street financier has donated $1 billion to their medical school.
Ruth Gottesman’s donation is one of the largest ever made to an educational institution in the United States.
Gotteseman is a retired pediatrics professor who spent 55 years of her career affiliated with the Bronx medical school, running literacy programmes and screening tests at the college. Her husband David S Gottesman left his wife with a large portfolio of Berkshire Hathaway stock when he died in 2022.
“I am very thankful to my late husband, Sandy, for leaving these funds in my care,” Gottesman said.
Gottesman said the donation would enable new doctors to begin their careers without the challenge of having to clear school debt.
The medical college is located in the Bronx — one of the areas that faces the worst health health disparity in New York state.
In a survey carried out by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, the borough was ranked last out of 62 counties in the state.
What it means for students
For the students, this donation is a much-needed lifeline and brings about a sense of relief. Jade Andrade, 30, wants to work in pediatric medicine and is thrilled for herself and her classmates.
“But I think the most exciting thing is really the impact this will have on future generations of students. The larger picture is, this is really a beacon of hope,” she told the BBC.
Over half of the students in the college are from New York. Nearly 60% of the students are women. 48% of current medical students are white, 29% are Asian, 11% are Hispanic and 5% are Black.
The fee waiver is expected to help most of the students.
High costs of studying medicine
Studying medicine in the US is extremely expensive as the fees range between $255,000 to $337,000 per year, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
The high cost of education also implies that most students are left with huge debts. The AAMC says that 84% of students left school with $100,000 or more in debt.
The donation
Gottesman was reluctant to make her name public as the donor. She believed it was not important for anyone to know who donated.
However, Philip Ozuah, who oversees the medical college, insisted on making her name public.
Ozuah said that if people come to know about what she has done for Einstein medical college, they may find it inspiring and dedicate their lives to the welfare of others, The New York Times reported.
Albert Einstein, who developed the theory of relativity, agreed to give his name to the medical college, which opened in 1955.
