Cleveland med school to offer free tution

Cleveland -- The Cleveland Clinic said it will provide free tuition scholarships to all its students in the Lerner College of Medicine starting this summer.

Cleveland Clinic said it will support the scholarships through endowment income and clinical operations.

"The average debt for students graduating from private U.S. medical students, such as the Lerner College of Medicine, is more than $150,000, making many graduates less likely to pursue careers in academic medicine," Dr. Delos M. "Toby" Cosgrove, president and chief executive officer of Cleveland Clinic, said Thursday in a release. "By providing full tuition support, we want to ensure that debt does not hinder the ability of our graduates to pursue academic careers as physician scientists."

The scholarships will cover the estimated $43,500 tuition but students will still have to pay for living expenses, which amount to about $21,800, The Wall Street Journal said. Students currently enrolled in the med school will receive additional scholarship funding to offset 50 percent of the difference between past tuition paid and the financial aid they've already received.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.