Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire founder of the media, financial and data company Bloomberg L.P., is pledging a staggering $600 million to four historically Black medical schools that produce half of all Black doctors in the U.S. The gifts will be funneled towards their endowments and stand as some of the largest ever granted to a Historically Black College or University (HBCU). “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,” said Bloomberg, who has an estimated net worth of nearly $105 billion, in a statement.
Through his charitable organization, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the businessman is gifting $175 million each to the Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College and Morehouse School of Medicine. An additional $75 million will be donated to the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science. The donation sizes were dependent upon each school’s anticipated growth and current class size.
The historic gifts come on the heels of major recent investments in HBCUs. In January, philanthropists Ronda Stryker and William Johnston gave $100 million to Spelman College, with the majority of the gift earmarked for endowed scholarships. Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment also granted $100 million earlier this year to the United Negro College Fund, which will use the funds for a pooled endowment benefiting 37 HBCUs.
In 2020, Bloomberg donated a total of $100 million to the nation’s four HBCU medical schools. The universities were subsequently able to reduce the student debt of nearly 1,000 future Black doctors and received another $6 million from the Bloomberg in 2021 to expand access to Covid-19 vaccines for local underserved populations.
His new $600 million pledge is expected to more than double the endowments for three of the four schools. Bloomberg will additionally provide $5 million to support the creation of a new medical school in New Orleans that will be established via a partnership between Louisiana’s Xavier University and the nonprofit healthcare provider Ochsner Health. The investments are part of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative effort, which is focused on addressing underinvestment in Black institutions and communities.
Why aren’t there more HBCU medical schools?
Discriminatory practices like the 1910 Flexner report—a report on medical education in the U.S. that led to the closure of five of the country’s seven Black medical schools at the time—have dwindled down HCBU medical schools over the decades, said Bloomberg Philanthropies. While 13 percent of the U.S. population is Black, less than 6 percent of all practicing doctors and only 7 percent of medical school graduates are Black, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
Bloomberg’s donation underscores “the importance of creating a healthcare system that better reflects the people and communities it serves,” said Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, president and CEO of Meharry Medical College, in a statement. “This is a momentous day for so many who are working to shape a healthier and more equitable future for our country.”
This isn’t Bloomberg’s only major educational gift this summer. In July, he donated $1 billion to his alma mater, John Hopkins University, to offer free tuition for medical students from families earning less than $300,000 and cover the living expenses and other fees for those from families earning less than $175,000. The size of his gift matched the historic donation granted earlier this year by Ruth Gottesman, a former medical school professor, to make the Bronx-based Albert Einstein College of Medicine completely tuition-free.
