NYC medical school goes tuition-free after billion-dollar donation

A $1 billion donation announced Monday by former professor Ruth Gottesman has led the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to begin admitting students tuition-free.

The gift is intended to attract a diverse pool of applicants who otherwise might not have the means to attend. It will also let students graduate without debt that can take decades to repay, college administrators said. Tuition at Einstein is $59,458 per year. The average medical school debt in the U.S. is $202,453, excluding undergraduate debt, according to the Education Data Initiative.