Going to medical school has a cost – the average medical school graduation owes it $250,995 in total student loan debt, not including any degree debt. Students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York are no exception to this trend, with nearly half owing more than $200,000 on their medical school education after they graduate, according to the school.
Now, a $1 billion donation from Dr. Ruth Gottesman, once a professor at Einstein, changes everything.
Starting in August of this year, all students at Einstein will attend classes completely free of charge. All current fourth-year students will be reimbursed for the cost of tuition for Spring 2024.
Gottesman's gift is the biggest done at any medical school in the country; this means that no Einstein students will have to pay tuition going forward.
We are deeply grateful that Dr. Ruth Gottesman, Professor Emerita of Pediatrics at @EinsteinMedhas given him a transformative gift #MontefioreEinstein— the largest of any medical school in the country — that ensures no student ever pays tuition again. https://t.co/XOy9HZLbfD pic.twitter.com/1ijv02jHFk
— Montefiore Health System (@MontefioreNYC) February 26, 2024
Gottesman's husband passed away in 2022 and left her $1 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock with the instruction “Do whatever you think is right with it.” After pondering what to do with the money, she eventually decided to donate it to Einstein—on the condition that the school not change its name to honor her gift.
“We have the damn name — we have Albert Einstein,” Gottesman told him New York Times.
Gottesman has been associated with Einstein for more than 55 years, beginning in 1968 when she led efforts to screen, evaluate, and treat learning problems in children at the Einstein Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC). She started the first literacy program of its kind for adults and founded the Emily Fisher Landau Center for Learning Disabilities at CERC. She is currently Clinical Professor Emerita of Pediatrics (Developmental Medicine) at Einstein and chair of the Einstein board of trustees.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine Ruth L. Gottesman Professor Emerita of Pediatrics. Photo by Brent N. Clarke/Getty Images
In one Press releaseshe thanked her late husband, saying “I feel blessed to have been given the great privilege of making this gift to such a worthy cause.”
Gottesman's colleagues noted her contributions and influence.
“Ruth Gottesman's extraordinary and unprecedented gift gives new meaning to selfless determination and transformative philanthropy. She has always been an inspiration to fellow board members and the entire Montefiore Einstein community. She will have the enduring gratitude of all to those who choose to train and learn here,” said Dan Tishman, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Montefiore Einstein.
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