Cleveland Clinic Announces Medical School to go Tuition Free!

[md1234]

Just released announcement from the CEO of Cleveland Clinic:

Dr. Cosgrove and Education Institute Chairman Andrew Fishleder, MD, have announced that the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University is providing all its students with full tuition scholarships, beginning with this July’s incoming class. Students currently enrolled in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine will receive additional scholarship funding to offset 50 percent of the difference between past tuition paid and the financial aid they’ve already received. Cleveland Clinic will support the full tuition scholarships through existing endowment income and clinical operations. The long-term goal is to fund the scholarships entirely through endowment income. Training the newest generation of physician scientists is an important aspect of Cleveland Clinic’s mission and enhances our long-term ability to provide patients with state-of-the-art healthcare. By providing full tuition support, we will ensure that debt does not hinder the ability of bright and talented individuals to pursue a career in academic medicine. It is an investment in our future and the future of medicine.​

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[dArroway]

I thought all UC's were 0 tuition for in-staters... ? (maybe not, im not from cali, nor did i apply to any UC's LOL)

 

[sunny1]

Wow - that's awesome! Thanks for posting! I used to work at CCF and I it.

 

[Margaux1985]

Now I feel even worst about not getting in

 

[Endee]

UCF beat them by about a month.

 

[bozz]

Just released announcement from the CEO of Cleveland Clinic:​

Dr. Cosgrove and Education Institute Chairman Andrew Fishleder, MD, have announced that the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University is providing all its students with full tuition scholarships, beginning with this July’s incoming class. Students currently enrolled in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine will receive additional scholarship funding to offset 50 percent of the difference between past tuition paid and the financial aid they’ve already received. Cleveland Clinic will support the full tuition scholarships through existing endowment income and clinical operations. The long-term goal is to fund the scholarships entirely through endowment income. Training the newest generation of physician scientists is an important aspect of Cleveland Clinic’s mission and enhances our long-term ability to provide patients with state-of-the-art healthcare. By providing full tuition support, we will ensure that debt does not hinder the ability of bright and talented individuals to pursue a career in academic medicine. It is an investment in our future and the future of medicine.​

Wow, why would they announce that NOW... after people might have turned them down for other schools that have lower tuition lolol

 

[sunny1]

UCF beat them by about a month.

Except I believe UCF's offer is only for their first incoming class, right? CCLCM is extending it to even their current students (well, 50% at least).

 

[EpiPEN]

*edit*

...

 

[Mister Pie]

This is awesome news if it's true, but where is the source? I don't seen an announcement anywhere online.

 

[PokerDoc]

Where did you find this?

 

[EpiPEN]

This is awesome news if it's true, but where is the source? I don't seen an announcement anywhere online.

Yeah this should be big news? citations please?

 

[ad infinitum]

Announced at 5 pm today to current students. Will probably be in news tomorrow.

 

[CCLCMer]

This is awesome news if it's true, but where is the source? I don't seen an announcement anywhere online.

Yup, it's completely true. Every CCLCM student will pay no tuition as of this July. The official announcement was made this evening at 5 PM. Like ad already said, it will be in the news tomorrow.

Congrats to everyone, especially those of you in the class of 2013! You will be going to med school completely tuition-free.

 

[Nataliemay24]

SO JEALOUS

 

[Pinkertinkle]

I thought all UC's were 0 tuition for in-staters... ? (maybe not, im not from cali, nor did i apply to any UC's LOL)

Nope, its 25k a year now about.

 

[searun]

Wow, I am impressed. Really impressed. We have a serious physician shortage in the USA and a med school realized that it is not a good thing for students to graduate with a debt of $250,000. God bless this school for getting it right.

 

[searun]

Does this apply to Case as well??? If not, and I were going to Case, I would be a little perturbed.

 

[ad infinitum]

Does this apply to Case as well??? If not, and I were going to Case, I would be a little perturbed.

No, this is Cleveland Clinic money going to pay for Cleveland Clinic students. Although CCLCM is a "track" of Case Western, it really functions as a different school.

 

[CCLCMer]

Does this apply to Case as well???

No, unfortunately it is only for CCLCM.

 

[jjmack]

Wow, I am impressed. Really impressed. We have a serious physician shortage in the USA and a med school realized that it is not a good thing for students to graduate with a debt of $250,000. God bless this school for getting it right.

true, but the goal of CCLCM is not to create primary care physicians are where the shortage is.

 

[nu2004]

mother....

oh well, i didn't have the research credentials anyway. maybe i can still find a way to weasel my way in

 

[nu2004]

also: this is quickly going to make the CCLCM program (and indirectly, Case), one of the most, if not THE most, competitive program in the country.

 

[Luxian]

Does this apply to Case as well??? If not, and I were going to Case, I would be a little perturbed.

Damn. Maybe Case will feel the love?

 

[nu2004]

Damn. Maybe Case will feel the love?

i was going to say if anything, there'd be less money to go around... but the Lerner program is separately endowed, so it's unlikely to affect Case at all.

what do you think the chances are that Lerner will split from Case within the next 5-10 years?

 

[REL]

Except I believe UCF's offer is only for their first incoming class, right? CCLCM is extending it to even their current students (well, 50% at least).

UCF is providing a full tuition and living expenses charter class scholarship for all 4 years of their charter class that will matriculate in August 2009. Some of these are endowed so they will be provided for future students.....they are already working on scholarships for their second class which should start in 2010. What a nice trend! Go UCF and CCLCM!

 

[TheRealMD]

I thought all UC's were 0 tuition for in-staters... ? (maybe not, im not from cali, nor did i apply to any UC's LOL)

"Fees" cost $20k. It's just fudging numbers.

 

[Margaux1985]

i was going to say if anything, there'd be less money to go around... but the Lerner program is separately endowed, so it's unlikely to affect Case at all.

what do you think the chances are that Lerner will split from Case within the next 5-10 years?

I think it'll take a lot less time for that. Rumor has it that the CCF is in talks with Columbia University on a possible merger (it might happen in two or three years). Obviously, Columbia is a more prestigious medical school than Case and the CCF program is pretty new, so I bet Cosgrove and Fishleder wants their medical school to be associated with a more prestigious medical school. I think you'll find a divorce from Case and a marriage to Columbia a likely possibility in the future.

 

[Cardiac]

Is Cleveland Clinic like the UCs? Are they just giving free tuition, and then charging a bunch of fees, etc? What exactly does this cover?

 

[md1234]

Is Cleveland Clinic like the UCs? Are they just giving free tuition, and then charging a bunch of fees, etc? What exactly does this cover?

NO. Cleveland Clinic will have Zero tuition come july... and they are paying retroactive 50% tuition for the current students. This is unprecedented and a historic day in CCF history.

... CCLCM is a very competitive medical school to begin with, and offering full tuition will only make this more so.

 

[dArroway]

Nope, its 25k a year now about.

According to last year's MSAR it was 0 with about 20k in fees... unless I remember incorrectly..

 

[md1234]

Cleveland Plain dealer has picked up on it...

http://blog.cleveland.com/medical/2008/05/students_of_cleveland_clinic_m.html

 

[Pinkertinkle]

According to last year's MSAR it was 0 with about 20k in fees... unless I remember incorrectly..

According to my bill its more like 27k this year.

 

[md1234]

Wall street Journal has also written a piece...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121081981994794319.html?mod=2_1566_topbox

 

[JDWflash44]

Just to clarify, all students starting in July will pay no tuition including current students, AND in addition, all current students will be receiving 50% of all of the tuition that they payed in past years back from the school. What an awesome deal.

 

[bozz]

JESUS!

They ALREADY have such low acceptance rates

This past year:

1,400 applied for 32 slots


W T F ... how? And I know a pretty average girl (stats-wise) that got in

 

[ad infinitum]

JESUS!

They ALREADY have such low acceptance rates

This past year:

1,400 applied for 32 slots


W T F ... how? And I know a pretty average girl (stats-wise) that got in

One of the things Cosgrove mentioned yesterday in casual conversation is that the MCAT average for the incoming class is 7th highest in the country. The interesting thing is that MCAT probably carries less weight, in general, at CCLCM than at other places. It's just due to a numbers game-more applicants=harder to get in. I am sure (and am glad), there are people who got in with "average" stats, but they have to have alot going for them other than stats. Because PBL is such a big part of our education, personality matters ALOT. She must have rocked the interview and also have great research experiences.

 

[dnagyrase]

I assume that people who got to interview at Cleveland Clinic this year were given "hints" about this announcement? I mean, it can't be completely out of the blue can it?

 

[Gatinha]

I assume that people who got to interview at Cleveland Clinic this year were given "hints" about this announcement? I mean, it can't be completely out of the blue can it?

In fact, it was completely out of the blue for me. I interviewed there in late February and stayed in touch with a couple of current students and it was never mentioned until yesterday. So exciting!!!

 

[dnagyrase]

In fact, it was completely out of the blue for me. I interviewed there in late February and stayed in touch with a couple of current students and it was never mentioned until yesterday. So exciting!!!

Thats just insane. Yesterday was May 14!!! So all of you acceptees (probably no more than 70-80 people probably) had one day to decide assuming you hadn't withdrawn from Cleveland Clinic already? That doesn't make too much sense unless they were trying to see who really didn't want to come (i.e. those who had withdrawn their acceptances early).

 

[MissBey]

1. This is *kind of* completely out of the blue. . . . my class has been hearing rumors about this for years (from the admins, alumni, profs), but they didn't seem hopeful that it would come before we graduated. Nothing was mentioned at interview days about this possibility.

2. People getting in with "average" stats will continue to happen. As has been discussed on other threads about CCLCM, stats are not the be-all, end-all to success in the program. The school is committed to training students who are seriously interested in a career in research. Also, our school is PBL-based, has no grades, uses written portfolios to assess competencies . . . basically, it is not for everyone, and the difficulty is in trying to figure out who those people are among all the qualified applicants that come through. In my opinion, the admissions process is going to be even harder with the free tuition, since the number applying will probably go up, but they won't necessarily all be people who really agree with the philosophy of the school.

 

[CCLCMer]

true, but the goal of CCLCM is not to create primary care physicians are where the shortage is.

No, the goal of this program is to create physician-scientists, which are also in short supply.

i was going to say if anything, there'd be less money to go around... but the Lerner program is separately endowed, so it's unlikely to affect Case at all.

Right, our financial aid is independent of Case's, so this won't take away any money from UP students.

Is Cleveland Clinic like the UCs? Are they just giving free tuition, and then charging a bunch of fees, etc? What exactly does this cover?

No. We are part of Case, so our fees and tuition are set by Case. We will still have the same tuition and fees that all Case students have.

W T F ... how? And I know a pretty average girl (stats-wise) that got in

As others have already said, stats are not the end-all, be-all for this program. CCLCM has no minimum MCAT requirement, and great stats alone won't get someone in here. People who are generally well-rounded (ex. have long-term, in-depth research experience, significant community service, clinical experience, demonstrate teamwork abilities, and are personable) who have reasonably good stats have a much better chance of getting in here than people who have off-the-chart stats but are more one-dimensional.

I assume that people who got to interview at Cleveland Clinic this year were given "hints" about this announcement? I mean, it can't be completely out of the blue can it?

Going tuition-free was always the school's plan, and we knew that this was going to happen eventually. I don't think anyone expected it to happen this quickly though!

Thats just insane. Yesterday was May 14!!! So all of you acceptees (probably no more than 70-80 people probably) had one day to decide assuming you hadn't withdrawn from Cleveland Clinic already? That doesn't make too much sense unless they were trying to see who really didn't want to come (i.e. those who had withdrawn their acceptances early).

Our AAMC traffic date was a month ago (April 15) since we start in July. So I doubt this announcement will have much effect on the incoming class's decisions about whether to come here because they already committed to coming here last month.

 

[AndyPVA]

Are any other admitted students that ultimately chose to attend other schools due to (not a small part) monetary reasons frustrated and shocked about this? Did the administration honestly not know about this a month ago during second look??!

 

[xanthines]

The chairman of my dept and my PI didn't find out until today either (my lab is at the Cleveland Clinic). I'm not sure who knew about this in advance.

-X

Are any other admitted students that ultimately chose to attend other schools due to (not a small part) monetary reasons frustrated and shocked about this? Did the administration honestly not know about this a month ago during second look??!

 

[illusion]

Are any other admitted students that ultimately chose to attend other schools due to (not a small part) monetary reasons frustrated and shocked about this? Did the administration honestly not know about this a month ago during second look??!

I'm a CCLCM student and I can honestly tell you that nobody at CCLCM had any idea. I spoke to Dr. Fishleder yesterday and he said that until Tuesday, nobody at CCLCM (including other deans, faculty and staff) except him had any clue this was going to go through. The students didn't know till Wednesday. It would have been nice if they had worked this out by April 15th so that all the second-lookers would have known, but unfortunately, it was only worked out a few days ago, and they called an emergency meeting at a day's notice.

That sucks that you turned them down due to monetary reasons though... sorry!

 

[Endee]

Except I believe UCF's offer is only for their first incoming class, right? CCLCM is extending it to even their current students (well, 50% at least).

True, and this is for CC's class starting this year, 2008, while UCF (since its opening Fall 2009) starts then. A few, I believe 2 or 3 of UCF's will be endowed and therefore will continue for future classes.

Anyway, bravo to CC/CWRU for taking this step. Hopefully more institutions realize the debt burden med students will be taking and emulate the schools that are making efforts to relieve it.

And congrats to everyone at Cleveland Clinic who gets this.

 

[md1234]

Forbes also wrote a piece on CCLCM:

http://www.forbes.com/prnewswire/fe...wire200805150400PR_NEWS_USPR_____CLTH027.html

 

[CCLCMer]

Are any other admitted students that ultimately chose to attend other schools due to (not a small part) monetary reasons frustrated and shocked about this? Did the administration honestly not know about this a month ago during second look??!

I don't know why the timing was now as opposed to a month ago, but I'm sorry that things didn't work out for you.

For whatever it's worth, they really kept this thing under wraps. We only started to know that something was up on Tuesday because we got a mysterious email telling us there would be a big announcement on Wednesday, and to please attend if we could. Then we got a second email telling us there would be a reception afterward and the Board of Trustees and Toby Cosgrove (CEO of the Cleveland Clinic) would be there. So of course everyone was guessing and hoping that free tuition would be the announcement, but they seriously didn't tell anyone (including the faculty) what was going on until yesterday evening.

 

[BurnEmUpBears]

Nope, its 25k a year now about.

We don't have tuition, we just have "fees".

 

[jjmack]

fair enough. Even going tuition free will be hard to keep people in academic medicine. MSTP programs are tuition free and have a stipend, but still a large percentage get out of academic medicine. I think it's a good step though. I remember reading somewhere a few years ago that the dean at hopkins was thinking of doing this.

No, the goal of this program is to create physician-scientists, which are also in short supply.
.

 

[xanthines]

I think it's because people get burned out and they see their friends making money. While tuition is free and we do get a stipend, we're not exactly rolling around in money. [sigh!]

-X

fair enough. Even going tuition free will be hard to keep people in academic medicine. MSTP programs are tuition free and have a stipend, but still a large percentage get out of academic medicine. I think it's a good step though. I remember reading somewhere a few years ago that the dean at hopkins was thinking of doing this.