Posts Tagged ‘tuition’

Selling Seats

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

Like a lot of government-supported institutions in the United States, Dalhousie University Medical School in Canada is facing a budgetary shortfall. A cut in provincial funding eliminated 8% of the school’s budget.

To make up the shortfall, Dalhousie will sell 10 first-year seats to students from Saudi Arabia for an annual payment of $75,000 each. The Saudi students will still have to go through an interview process and will take residencies in their home country.

My initial reaction was outrage, but reading more, it seems that Nova Scotia does not have as great a demand for doctors as Saudi Arabia does. This is not the kind of diversity that many medical schools aim for, but it will certainly enrich the experience of the Canadians in next year’s incoming class.

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Posted in Faculty development | 6 Comments »

Breaking Ground

Monday, November 1st, 2010

Last week, the Boston University School of Medicine broke ground on a new student residence on Albany Street, near the Crosstown Building. Mayor Menino was on hand alongside university leaders and student representatives. Not only was this an encouraging project for the economic development of Boston, but also it portends assistance to defray the high cost of medical education

Tuition, fees, and health insurance at BU's School of Medicine run $51,134 for the current academic year. Only 4 other medical schools in the country charge more according to data collected by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Of course, the median for all private medical colleges is a not-too-cheap $47,408.

By building its own low-rent apartments, BU can  help mitigate the high cost of tuition in a relatively high-cost city. This benefits more than just the institution. A recent study of primary care doctors suggests that easing medical students' debt can help increase the number of physicians who practice in underserved areas.

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Posted in Faculty development | 8 Comments »