The New York University School of Medicine announced on August 16 the offer for a full tuition scholarship for both current and future students in its M.D. program. The usual tuition is now going to be covered with a $55,018 yearly scholarship for each student who is admitted to the program.

NYU is the only top ten-ranked medical school in the country to offer such a scholarship.

According to an article in The New York Times, about 82 percent of NYU’s School of Medicine graduates leave with debt; the average debt incurred by members of the class of 2017 was a whopping $184,000.

Money to endow the M.D. program came from Ken Langone, the founder of Home Depot and his wife Elaine, who donated about $100 million of the $600 million that NYU said it will use to fund the scholarships.

Medical school is expensive, and I always thought I wouldn’t be able to have the career I want due to it being so expensive. My mom wants me to be in the medical field because that’s what she wanted to do. I cringed every time she talked about going into medical school because of how overpriced it was. Now that NYU has launched this program, I feel like I can try my best to make my mom’s and my little dream come true.

Wearing that white lab coat, as I imagine, is possibly one of the most exciting and accomplished feelings. I’ve seen my cousins who graduated from Aga Khan University get happier when their name is called to get their degree and relieved the second they put on the lab coat and walk down with their degree. I hope someday, I get to feel the same as they did on their big day.

I hope more colleges and universities follow NYU’s lead. I feel like the more schools become free, the more students will be willing to go to college and have a successful career. I know a lot of people who have no motivation to go to college because they have not started saving for it and think it’s too expensive or feel like they won’t be able to qualify for any scholarships. If these people found out that they can get into college, that is free and have a chance to have a successful career it will probably make them want to apply and hopefully get accepted.

Free college is also a way to solve a little bit of inequality in our society. NYU is giving people who are interested in the medical field a chance to be successful, no matter who they are or how financially ready they are to go to medical school.

Increasing scholarship endowments and eliminating medical students’ debt is an investment that can greatly impact the future of patient care. According to the Association of American Medical College (AAMC) research shows that the United States will face a shortage of 40,800 to 104,900 physicians by 2030. The study found that the numbers of new primary care physicians and other medical specialists are not keeping pace with the demands of a growing and aging population.

Continuing to fund education is the way to pave the path to a brighter future — a future where more students are able to embark in their dream careers and terminate any shortages but still be fully focused on bettering society, without a huge financial stress from the get-go.

I hope NYU ensures that a diverse group of people get accepted in their medical school. An important consideration is the fact that NYU has a lower acceptance rate. Over 119 students were accepted into the medical school in 2017 and over 7,000 students apply every year. Eventually when it’s going to be my time to start applying for college, I can have the option of NYU and hopefully other colleges who have decided to go with NYU’s lead.