Starting this fall, Johns Hopkins University students from families earning less than $300,000 will have their tuition completely covered by a $1 billion gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The gift will also cover living expenses and fees for students from families who earn less than $175,000.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for greater investment in health and education to avert the next crisis and address ongoing issues, said Bloomberg Philanthropies Founder Michael Bloomberg.
“When the global pandemic receded from everyday life, many elected officials couldn’t wait to move on, including here in the United States,” Bloomberg wrote in his annual letter. “Because of that, many serious problems that existed before COVID-19 have only grown worse. Without urgent action, they’ll continue to snowball — with tragic consequences.”
The contribution comes after Bloomberg Philanthropies gave $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins University in 2018 to lower the cost of attendance for undergraduate students by 40%. High-need students now make up 21% of Hopkins’ student body, up from 9% a decade ago, according to the philanthropic organization.
Bloomberg, who is a Hopkins alumnus, said his organization’s latest gift to the university “will help Johns Hopkins attract more of the nation’s brightest minds and help free more of them to pursue the fields that most inspire them, rather than ones that will best enable them to repay loans.”
Hopkins officials said the gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies will allow more middle- and low-income families to access education.
“Removing financial barriers to individual opportunity fuels excellence, innovation, and discoveries that redound to the benefit of society,” Johns Hopkins University President Ron Daniels said in a statement.
Bloomberg’s gift will also support Hopkins graduate students in other programs, including the Peabody Institute and schools of public health, nursing, business, engineering, education, advanced international studies, arts & sciences, and (upcoming) government & policy.
