Free tuition for Bronx medical students after $1 billion donation

BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11) – Students at a Bronx medical school will get free tuition thanks to a massive donation from the board’s chair. 

A $1 billion donation will cover all incoming students’ tuition at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx - which costs well over $59,000 per year - "in perpetuity," according to representatives of the school. 

Current fourth-year students will have their spring tuition covered, according to the school. 

The donation comes from Ruth Gottesman, chair of the school’s board of trustees, who started working at Einstein's Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center over 55 years ago.

It’s a donation the school expects will completely transform its student population and students’ lives. 

“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, a dean at the medical school. “Additionally, it will free up and lift our students, enabling them to pursue projects and ideas that might otherwise be prohibitive.”’

Gottesman made the donation using money left by her husband, David “Sandy” Gottesman - the founder of First Manhattan Co. who died in 2022, Ruth Gottesman said. 

“[Students] 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,” Gottesman said. 

“l feel blessed to be given the great privilege of making this gift to such a worthy cause.”

The school enrolls over 100 students each year and around 180 in 2023. The current class of 2027 is nearly half New York state residents, with a slew of students from local schools like New York University, the City University of New York, State University of New York and Yeshiva University. 

“We can change healthcare history when we recognize that access is the path to excellence,” said Philip O. Ozuah, President and CEO of Montefiore Einstein.