NYU offers free tuition to all medical students

The New York University School of Medicine has announced plans to offer full tuition scholarships to all current and future students.

The medical school's trustees, leaders and faculty delivered the news to first year medical students to close the annual White Coat Ceremony - when new students receive a white lab coat as they begin studying, on Thursday.

The yearly tuition costs covered by the scholarship are $55,018 (£43,222).

Students will still have to cover their own accommodation and living expenses.

Robert I Grossman the Dean of NYU School of Medicine, said: "This decision recognises a moral imperative that must be addressed, as institutions place an increasing debt burden on young people who aspire to become physicians."

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, 75 per cent of all doctors in the US graduated with debt in 2017.

Recent figures showed that the median cost of medical education, including tuition and fees, for private medical school is $59,605 (£46,870).

The university’s statement indicated that due to "staggering student loans" many medical school graduates choose higher paying specialties which ultimately draws talent away from less lucrative fields like primary care, pediatric and gynecology.

"By making medical school accessible to a broader range of applicants, we will be a catalyst for transforming medical education nationwide," the statement read.

The move closely follows the university’s decision in 2013 to join a select group of US medical schools offering an accelerated three-year curriculum. This allowed physicians to get into the field of their choice earlier, during their most productive years and with less debt.

NYU is the only top 10 ranked medical school in the nation that has offered to shoulder tuition burdens for all of its medical students.