Howard University receives $175 million endowment from Bloomberg

WASHINGTON ( DC News Now ) — Howard University College of Medicine is one of four historically Black medical schools to receive a historic multi-million dollar endowment from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Bloomberg announced on Tuesday that it would be making a $600 million commitment to the schools – one the largest private donations to any historically Black college or university, according to the Associated Press .

Howard University’s medical school, Meharry Medical College and Morehouse School of Medicine are each receiving a gift of $175 million. Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science is receiving $75 million.

Bloomberg Philanthropies said in a statement “The new funding will more than double three of the four medical schools’ endowments.”

“This is really a truly transformational gift from Michael Bloomberg and his team,” said Andrea Hayes Dixon, Dean of the College of Medicine. “It’s really going to give our students an opportunity to have the freedom to choose the medical specialty they want without a fear of debt.”

It’s not yet clear precisely how the money will be used, but Dixon said it’ll go towards numerous expenses including student scholarships and for hiring professors that specialize in various areas of training.

She also noted the money will go a long way towards increasing the number of Black and brown doctors nationwide, which she said is crucial to addressing inequities in the healthcare system.

“The diversity in our healthcare system is critical. We know from scientific data if a person has a doctor who looks like them, they actually live longer,” said Dixon. “The outcomes are better. We can actually save more lives by providing our communities, the underserved communities with more doctors who look like them.”

The four schools alone graduate about half of all Black doctors in the U.S., but have underfunded endowments due to systemic funding inequities, such as lower federal and state support, according to Bloomberg and the Association of American Medical Colleges .

“It’s very exciting. It definitely has all the students rallying around, wanting to know what’s going on,” said Jessica Ray, a third-year medical student.

Ray has plans to pursue a career as a child adolescent psychiatrist after graduation and work specifically in underserved communities.

“Representation matters, diversity matters. This country is a melting pot, people from all backgrounds live in this country,” she said. “They all deserve quality health care and they also deserve to be able to choose a doctor they feel similar to.”

She believes the money will make a big difference in easing the financial burden of attending Howard’s medical school.

“I think Howard, [is] higher on the cost of attendance. And the cost of living in D.C. is triple, double a lot of our hometowns,” she explained. “So we certainly want to hear some of this money is going to go directly towards student scholarship.”

Second-year medical student Jetaun Booker agreed.

“I was really excited when I heard about it. I feel like going through medical school it’s really an enriching experience but the burden of all the debt is really something that’s always on me and my classmates’ minds,” she said.

As part of a $100 million gift, Bloomberg Philanthropies made a $32.8 million donation to Howard University College of Medicine in 2022. At the time, that was the largest donation to the College of Medicine in its history.

In a release on Tuesday, Howard University President Ben Vinson III, Ph.D. said the following:

This is a transformational gift, not only for its impact on cultivating the next generation of health professionals, but for its visionary investment in the intergenerational wealth and health of our medical students and the communities they will serve. Endowment support has traditionally been an area of underinvestment for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, but today’s gift is an extraordinary vote of confidence in the lasting benefits of such support. Thank you to Mike Bloomberg and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative for your inspiring leadership and commitment to addressing the racial wealth gap and decades of underinvestment in Black communities.

Ben Vinson III, Ph.D., President, Howard University

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