Giving Compass' Take:
- Natalie Schwartz spotlights Bloomberg Philanthropies' donations to four historically Black medical schools, adding up $600 million in total.
- What can donors do to support equitable education and professional development for Black students across the country?
- Learn more about key issues in education and how you can help.
- Search our Guide to Good for nonprofits focused on education in your area.
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Bloomberg Philanthropies is donating $600 million to the nation’s four historically Black medical schools to help strengthen their endowments and diversify the medical field, according to an announcement on Tuesday.
Howard University’s College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College and Morehouse School of Medicine will each be gifted $175 million, while the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science will get $75 million.
The philanthropic group will also give $5 million to the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine, which is currently under development. The institution — a collaboration between Xavier University of Louisiana, a historically Black college, and Ochsner Health — is slated to launch in downtown New Orleans once it secures preliminary accreditation.
Bloomberg Philanthropies — founded by businessman and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — has made investing in medical education a priority.
The latest round of donations comes just one month after the organization announced a $1 billion donation to Johns Hopkins University to make medical school tuition-free for students with household incomes under $300,000.
This also isn’t the first time Bloomberg Philanthropies has donated to the four historically Black medical schools. In 2020, the organization gave $100 million total to the institutions. And in 2021, it gave another $6 million total to the institutions to help them provide COVID-19 vaccines to underserved people in their communities.
The new gifts to medical schools are part of the organization’s Greenwood Initiative, which aims to remedy chronic “underinvestment in Black institutions and communities,” the organization said in the announcement.
“We have much more to do to build a country where every person, regardless of race, has equal access to quality health care — and where students from all backgrounds can pursue their dreams,” Bloomberg said in a Tuesday statement.
“By building on our previous support, this gift will empower new generations of Black doctors to create a healthier and more equitable future for our country,” he said.
Read the full article about historically Black medical schools by Natalie Schwartz at Higher Ed Dive.