Attending medical school is a costly venture.

In order to help some medical students avoid debt, former Merck CEO Roy Vagelos and his wife Diana gave $250 million to Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons.

In a statement, Columbia announced that the new scholarship program will allow approximately 20% of students to receive scholarships covering their entire tuition. The program will also provide medical students who qualify for financial aid— who make up about half of the student body — with grants, eliminating the need to take out loans.

Read the full article by Aine Cain about eliminating student loans from Business Insider