Academic medical centers are united in their mission of educating the next generation of physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals. As tuition costs rise across the United States, academic institutions rely on scholarship funds to defray all or part of tuition and associated costs in order to recruit and train students.
As shortages in all medical professions continue to rise, philanthropists have made investments supporting scholarships for students across the globe for students studying nearly all areas of healthcare including nursing, doctoral training, pharmacology, and more.
Below is a summary of gifts over $10M supporting scholarships for students in healthcare since 2020:
- In July 2023, New York University Long Island University School of Medicine received a $200M gift from Kenneth and Elaine Langone. The donation expands the school’s guarantee of full-tuition scholarships to every student, regardless of need, in perpetuity. In conjunction with the donation, the school was renamed NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine in honor of Robert I. Grossman, MD, CEO of NYU Langone Health and dean of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in Manhattan.
- In June 2021, The University of Utah School of Medicine announced a $110M donation from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation and the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation. The gift includes $40M for endowment, which will enrich student scholarships, recruitment of top-flight faculty, and innovative medical education programs; $40M for research, focused on cardiovascular science and heart disease; and $30M for a new, state-of-the-art School of Medicine building. The school has also been renamed the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah.
- In August 2021, Montana State University School of Nursing received a $101M donation from Mark and Robyn Jones. The gift provided funding for five new facilities throughout the state of Montana, established five endowed faculty professorships, developed an endowed scholarship fund supporting nursing students, and created a certified midwifery program for doctoral level nurses.
- In September 2022, Edward Avedisian donated $100M to Boston University. The gift names the Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine in honor of the alumni of the university. Additionally, the gift supports scholarships, endowed faculty chairs, research, and teaching.
- In September 2020, Partners in Health established a scholarship fund, launched with a $50M gift from the Bill + Melinda Gates Foundation, supporting students at the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda in memory of Paul E. Farmer.
- In November 2021, The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy received $50M from Ken Coit. The gift establishes six endowed chairs in drug discovery, neurodegenerative diseases, and toxicology, as well as an endowment to support scholarships for the college’s doctor of pharmacy and doctoral programs. The gift also funds strategic investments in the form of research equipment and facility upgrades, and a portion has already been used for an expanded wing of the college’s museum, now be known as the Coit Museum of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Additionally, the gift named the R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy.
- In May 2022, The University of Houston College of Medicine announced a $50M pledge from Tilman J. Fertitta and his family. In honor of the gift, the school has been renamed as the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine. The gift supports five endowed chairs, endowed scholarship funds for graduate research stipends and fellowships for medical students, capital, and supporting research.
- In September 2020, Meharry Medical College received a $34M gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Over four years, the gift will provide scholarships for medical students with financial need, many of whom have faced increased financial pressures because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- In August 2022, Howard University College of Medicine received $32.8M from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The gift supported scholarships for College of Medicine students with financial need.
- In March 2023, the University of Mary Washington celebrated a $30M estate gift from the late Irene Piscopo Rodgers. The bequest supports undergraduate research programs and created four new Alvey Scholarships, providing full tuition, fees, and room and board for out-of-state undergraduate students for up to four years.
- In December 2023, The University of Kentucky announced a $22M donation from Michael Rankin. The gift supports the construction of the new Michael D. Rankin M.D. Health Education Building. In addition, his gift supports student scholarships.
- In September 2021, The University of Massachusetts Amhurst announced a $21.5M gift from the Elaine Nicpon Marieb Charitable Foundation. The university’s College of Nursing became the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing. The gift also supports the university’s innovative nursing engineering center and provides support for student scholarships, an endowed professorship, and mentorship and research initiatives.
- In January 2020, The University of Virginia School of Nursing received a $20M gift from Joanne and Bill Conway. The gift supports scholarships for students transferring into the BS in nursing program and RN-to-BSN students, and practicing RNs seeking a BS.
- In March 2021, the University of Louisiana Lafayette announced a $20M donation from LHC Group supporting the university’s nursing program. The gift endowed support for the stimulation lab program, the deanship of the College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions, increased scholarship funding for students, created an endowed faculty research and development fund, supports new endowed professorships in nursing and health sciences, scholarships for students pursuing post-acute care certification at the graduate level, and adjunct faculty.
- In April 2023, Purdue University College of Pharmacy received a $17M donation from JeanAnne “Jeannie” and Jim Chaney. The gift supported the Chaney Family Scholarship Endowment.
- In September 2022, The University of Virginia School of Nursing received $14M from Joanne and Bill Conway. The gift provides at least 175 need- and eligibility-based scholarships to both graduate and undergraduate students to cover tuition, school fees, room and board, and books. It also funds scholarships specifically for Clinical Nurse Leader master’s students who have transitioned to nursing from other careers, as well as doctoral students who plan to become future nursing professors and nurse scientists.
- In April 2022, Purdue University School of Nursing announced a $14M gift from Mark and Maureen Miller. The gift supports an endowed leadership position, capital support for the Nursing and Pharmacy Building, created an endowed scholarship for the accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, and add substantially to their existing scholarship endowments.
- In September 2022, The University of Virginia School of Nursing received $13M from Joanne and Bill Conway. The gift supports need-based scholarships for over 1,000 undergraduate and doctoral nursing students, supporting diversity in health care.
- In October 2023, Yale School of Nursing received an $11.1M gift from an anonymous donor. The endowed gift supports the YSN Community Scholars program, providing full-tuition scholarships to six students each year in the Master of Science in Nursing program for experienced nurses or the Graduate Entry Pre-Specialty in Nursing program designed for college graduates with non-nursing backgrounds.
- In April 2023, Holyoke Community College announced a $10M bequest intention from Margaret “Peg” and Gary Wendlandt. The gift will support student scholarships and college priorities.
- In May 2022, Niagara University received a $10M pledge from Jeff and Mary Helen Holzschuh. A portion of this gift, mostly benefitting the College of Business Administration, supports the university’s Trustee Scholarship Program for the College of Nursing.
