Johns Hopkins Medical School to give free tuition to students with income less than $300K

[xffan624]

The next school to go in an arms race I fully approve of.

https://wapo.st/4cO2t9B

A $1 billion gift to Johns Hopkins University from billionaire Mike Bloomberg will make medical school free for most students, and increase financial aid for those enrolled in nursing, public health and other graduate programs.

....

Starting this fall, Johns Hopkins will offer medical school students free tuition — normally about $65,000 a year for four years — for those whose families earn less than $300,000 a year. Students from families earning up to $175,000 a year will have living expenses and fees covered as well.

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[wysdoc]

Thanks, I'm going to share this on the Johns Hopkins page and start the stampede.
They have not released their secondary essay questions yet, wonder if those will change?

 

[GritsNGuts]

Honestly this won't change much about who gets into Hopkins, but any question about Hopkins vs *insert peer school* is gonna dissappear for a lot of students lol. Peer institutions, you're up 👀

 

[Hollow Knight]

Honestly this won't change much about who gets into Hopkins, but any question about Hopkins vs *insert peer school* is gonna dissappear for a lot of students lol. Peer institutions, you're up 👀

True, but at least the few kids who have a shot there won't worry about money.

I had the MCAT and GPA, and even the research, for Hopkins, but I knew I wanted to do primary care. So I didn't even bother applying. If I saw this I would have definitely given it a shot

 

[Moko]

 

[sarcasmrules]

For once, I regret making bank on crypto.

 

[havil]

imagine having 1 billion dollars for humanitarian purposes and you decide to give it to the wealthiest people in America...............
med school costs a lot of money but most physicians dont have a problem paying their school debt. give that money to people who actually needs it.

give it to start-ups, give it to entrepreneurs on suicide watch who went bankrupt trying to start businesses that created jobs and made americas export market more competitive, invest it in lobby groups that advocate for better treatment of homeless people, give it to arts students to pay of their debts, etc etc.

There are so many other ways to productively spend 1 billion dollars than to give it to the wealthiest people in America. A neurosurgeon or a dermatologist making 500k+ a year will not see a significant increase in their quality of life if you give them 300k....so much for a "huManiTarIan"

 

[LunaOri]

imagine having 1 billion dollars for humanitarian purposes and you decide to give it on the wealthiest people in America...............
med school costs a lot of money but most physicians dont have a problem paying their school debt. give that money to people who actually needs it.

give it to start-ups, give it to entrepreneurs on suicide watch who went bankrupt trying to start businesses that created jobs and made americas export market more competitive, invest it in lobby groups that advocate for better treatment of homeless people, give it to arts students to pay of their debts, etc etc.

There are so other ways to productively spend 1 billion dollars than to give it to the wealthiest people in America. so much for "huManiTarIan"

I completely disagree. He gave the money so that the people who will be dedicating their lives to caring for the sick won’t have to sacrifice so much to do it. He gave the donation to JH because he is an alumnus; you could argue that the money might be better used to benefit one of the state schools that sends more graduates into primary care.

 

[xffan624]

imagine having 1 billion dollars for humanitarian purposes and you decide to give it on the wealthiest people in America...............
med school costs a lot of money but most physicians dont have a problem paying their school debt. give that money to people who actually needs it.

give it to start-ups, give it to entrepreneurs on suicide watch who went bankrupt trying to start businesses that created jobs and made americas export market more competitive, invest it in lobby groups that advocate for better treatment of homeless people, give it to arts students to pay of their debts, etc etc.

There are so other ways to productively spend 1 billion dollars than to give it to the wealthiest people in America. so much for "huManiTarIan"

I'd say it's a marginally better use of his money (in which he spent more than a billion) than on his failed bid for a presidential nomination in which he only won American Samoa's delegates.

Regardless, he might not be Bill Gates, but I'm sure he gives his money to lots of worthy causes besides this one. This one just made the news and is most relevant to our forum.

 

[havil]

I'd say it's a marginally better use of his money (in which he spent more than a billion) than on his failed bid for a presidential nomination in which he only won American Samoa's delegates.

Regardless, he might not be Bill Gates, but I'm sure he gives his money to lots of worthy causes besides this one. This one just made the news and is most relevant to our forum.

ok but can we agree that giving away a billion dollars to future millionaires isn't really that productive in a humanitarian point of view (or any point of view for that matter)?

like I personally cant think of anything more counterintuitive than giving money to people who will have a lot of money (a billionaire giving money to millionaires) but that's just me idk

 

[wysdoc]

imagine having 1 billion dollars for humanitarian purposes and you decide to give it to the wealthiest people in America...............
med school costs a lot of money but most physicians dont have a problem paying their school debt. give that money to people who actually needs it.

give it to start-ups, give it to entrepreneurs on suicide watch who went bankrupt trying to start businesses that created jobs and made americas export market more competitive, invest it in lobby groups that advocate for better treatment of homeless people, give it to arts students to pay of their debts, etc etc.

There are so many other ways to productively spend 1 billion dollars than to give it to the wealthiest people in America. A neurosurgeon or a dermatologist making 500k+ a year will not see a significant increase in their quality of life if you give them 300k....so much for a "huManiTarIan"

He already gave a billion dollars to the HBCU medical schools 5 years ago.
He could keep it all for himself, but he doesn't

 

[j_diggity]

Does anyone know if, when these tuition-free policies go into effect, have they typically accrued to current students as well? E.g., if you're about to start M3 at Hopkins and you qualify, do you now get your next 2 years tuition-free?

 

[wysdoc]

Does anyone know if, when these tuition-free policies go into effect, have they typically accrued to current students as well? E.g., if you're about to start M3 at Hopkins and you qualify, do you now get your next 2 years tuition-free?

When Einstein got a similar donation last year, they paid for their current MS4's last semester.
It's worth asking financial aid office.

 

[LunaOri]

ok but can we agree that giving away a billion dollars to future millionaires isn't really that productive in a humanitarian point of view (or any point of view for that matter)?

like I personally cant think of anything more counterintuitive than giving money to people who will have a lot of money but that's just me idk

Nope. Disagree. The money will help a lot of lower-income applicants become physicians. One of the biggest factors limiting the number of applicants of color and low-income applicants is the fear of debt.

 

[OfMiceAndWomen]

Does anyone know if, when these tuition-free policies go into effect, have they typically accrued to current students as well? E.g., if you're about to start M3 at Hopkins and you qualify, do you now get your next 2 years tuition-free?

Current Hopkins med student here. I believe the answer is yes, the new fin aid policy will apply to all medical students enrolled starting Fall 2024.

 

[sarcasmrules]

imagine having 1 billion dollars for humanitarian purposes and you decide to give it to the wealthiest people in America...............
med school costs a lot of money but most physicians dont have a problem paying their school debt. give that money to people who actually needs it.

give it to start-ups, give it to entrepreneurs on suicide watch who went bankrupt trying to start businesses that created jobs and made americas export market more competitive, invest it in lobby groups that advocate for better treatment of homeless people, give it to arts students to pay of their debts, etc etc.

There are so many other ways to productively spend 1 billion dollars than to give it to the wealthiest people in America. A neurosurgeon or a dermatologist making 500k+ a year will not see a significant increase in their quality of life if you give them 300k....so much for a "huManiTarIan"

It's his money. He can do whatever he wants with it.

 

[j_diggity]

When Einstein got a similar donation last year, they paid for their current MS4's last semester.
It's worth asking financial aid office.

Awesome. I'm not at Hopkins, but my school is a "competitor school" that may be galvanized to offer even more generous aid in response to this; one can hope! Thank goodness NYU kicked off this tuition war a few years back.

 

[GritsNGuts]

Nope. Disagree. The money will help a lot of lower-income applicants become physicians. One of the biggest factors limiting the number of applicants of color and low-income applicants is the fear of debt.

Highly doubt this. Suspect the vast majority of people who it helps are those right under $175k and those right under $300k. That's the VAST majority of people, not just low-income students. Students whose family makes $250k will have excellent resources and be much better off than a student whose family makes $50k, and will almost always be able to outcompete them.

None of these schools give excellent financial aid because they care about getting low income students into med school. They do it to compete with each other. The bulk of their classes are still kids from fairly wealthy to very wealthy families.

 

[OfMiceAndWomen]

Highly doubt this. Suspect the vast majority of people who it helps are those right under $175k and those right under $300k. That's the VAST majority of people, not just low-income students. Students whose family makes $250k will have excellent resources and be much better off than a student whose family makes $50k, and will almost always be able to outcompete them.

None of these schools give excellent financial aid because they care about getting low income students into med school. They do it to compete with each other. The bulk of their classes are still kids from fairly wealthy to very wealthy families.

I agree with this, but only because low income students at top medical schools are already receiving good need-based financial aid.

I come from a ‘relatively’ low income family (less than 100k) and have been receiving full cost of attendance in financial aid (no loans) from Hopkins even before this new donation. And I know classmates whose family income are 100-150k and have been receiving at least full tuition. I had also received similar financial aid packages from other top medical schools.

This is why I don’t necessarily think Hopkins new policy is super groundbreaking. It is of course great news and a move in the right direction, but it is essentially just increasing the income threshold of Hopkins’ current need-based financial aid model. What would be more ground-breaking is a donation to improve financial aid at a school that previously did not offer any need-based aid.

 

[GritsNGuts]

I agree with this, but only because low income students at top medical schools are already receiving good need-based financial aid.

I come from a ‘relatively’ low income family (less than 100k) and have been receiving full cost of attendance in financial aid (no loans) from Hopkins even before this new donation. And I know classmates whose family income are 100-150k and have been receiving at least full tuition. I had also received similar financial aid packages from other top medical schools.

This is why I don’t necessarily think Hopkins new policy is super groundbreaking. It is of course great news and a move in the right direction, but it is essentially just increasing the income threshold of Hopkins’ current need-based financial aid model. What would be more ground-breaking is a donation to improve financial aid at a school that previously did not offer any need-based aid.

Regardless of your personal opinions, medical students statistically disproportionately come from higher income families, and that's even more true at the most highly ranked institutions.

Lower income students already receiving good aid at Hopkins doesn't change the fact that the majority of students come from fairly wealthy to very wealthy families, and $175k and $300k being used as cutoffs actually gives people whose families make quite a bit of money a big discount.

Just don't want folks to try and push the idea that this was actually meant to get low income students better aid, because I doubt that was the actually intention. We've seen this story play out with NYU, and will likely see it play out with Einstein. If they set the cutoff to $100k, for instance, a VERY small portion of their class would qualify for anything...and $100k is still quite a bit higher than the US median family income (before taxes) of $74,580.

 

[Goro]

ok but can we agree that giving away a billion dollars to future millionaires isn't really that productive in a humanitarian point of view (or any point of view for that matter)?

like I personally cant think of anything more counterintuitive than giving money to people who will have a lot of money but that's just me idk

Says the premed.

 

[_CaptainKaladin_]

ok but can we agree that giving away a billion dollars to future millionaires isn't really that productive in a humanitarian point of view (or any point of view for that matter)?

like I personally cant think of anything more counterintuitive than giving money to people who will have a lot of money but that's just me idk

Who are you to tell someone else how best to donate their money? He could have just kept it but instead made sure to help a lot of people who are dedicating their lives to the service of others graduate debt free and focus on medicine, even if it is one of the top institutions already. If it was you getting the free tuition I doubt you’d be indignant like this. I’m sure he donates a lot of money to other causes.

 

[havil]

Says the premed.

Bro help me I’m getting flamed

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Does every family that makes over $300K pay for grad school expenses?

 

[xffan624]

Does every family that makes over $300K pay for grad school expenses?

Probably not but I don't think the school cares much. From the school's perspective it's about fairness.

I was a 30 year old non-trad. My parents inherited a million dollar+ fortune from my grandparents, but refused to give me their financial information so I got nothing from the school regardless. Not sure what their actual income was. It still felt silly that I was expected to rely on parental income and report on it when I was so old. Thankfully, I had veterans benefits to cover things.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Probably not but I don't think the school cares much. From the school's perspective it's about fairness.

I was a 30 year old non-trad. My parents inherited a million dollar+ fortune from my grandparents, but refused to give me their financial information so I got nothing from the school regardless. Not sure what their actual income was. It still felt silly that I was expected to rely on parental income and report on it when I was so old. Thankfully, I had veterans benefits to cover things.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Yes, doesn’t make sense to look at parents income for graduate schools.