The hot trend for billionaire donors: paying for medical-school tuition

Michael Bloomberg, whose nonprofit has contributed more than $1.6 billion to the cause, has warned of doctor shortages and steep med-school bills.

• Billionaire philanthropists are increasingly cutting checks for future doctors.
• Some have cited medical-professional shortages amid sky-high tuition costs.
• Bloomberg Philanthropies pledged $600 million to four historically Black med schools Tuesday.

Giving future doctors a free ride to medical school is shaping up to be a trend across the billionaire-donor circuit.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg Philanthropies pledged $600 million to four historically Black medical schools to address "health disparities and underrepresentation in the medical field," its founder, Michael Bloomberg, said in a statement.

Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, and Morehouse School of Medicine are set to receive $175 million each, while the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science will get $75 million.

Bloomberg has previously spoken about "a disturbing decline in life expectancy" and national doctor and nurse shortages amid steep medical-school bills.

Just last month, Bloomberg Philanthropies gifted $1 billion to cover Johns Hopkins tuition for roughly two-thirds of its current and incoming medical students.

In 2020, the organization donated $100 million to the same four historically Black med schools to help "reduce the student debt of nearly 1,000 future Black doctors," it said.

Bloomberg isn't alone.

In February, a widow and former pediatrics professor gifted $1 billion — which she'd inherited from her late husband in Berkshire Hathaway stock — to a Bronx medical school, covering tuition in perpetuity in hopes of attracting a more diverse applicant pool.

Despite the recent big bucks going to future doctor's tuitions, the practice is a philanthropic approach dating back years.

In 2018, Kenneth Langone — one of Home Depot's cofounders — and his wife, Elaine, gave $100 million to cover tuition at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, The Associated Press reported. In 2023, they gave another $200 million to a different NYU med school.

And the record executive David Geffen — for whom UCLA's medical school is named — has contributed $146 million toward merit scholarships, the outlet reported.