Six years ago, when Kenneth and Elaine Langone generously donated $100 million so that students could attend NYU Medical School tuition-free, the philanthropists' main goal was to encourage more graduating doctors to enter primary care fields.
Fast forward: In 2024, the number of NYU graduating medical students who went into primary care was about the same as it was in 2017. Furthermore, in the interim, the number of African-American students has declined – although the number of Latinos grew slightly. Additionally, at least in the first two years of the experiment, the percentage of incoming matriculants
One thing that has improved is NYU's rankings and reputation.
All of this begs the question: Is making medical school tuition-free the most effective way to increase the number of primary care practitioners and improve equity?
See this clearly-written Atlantic article by Rose Horowitch for a deeper dive into the query. She was also recently interviewed by Kai Ryssdal on NPR's Marketplace.
