Six years ago, the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, in Manhattan, announced that it would become tuition-free for all students. The change was made possible in part thanks to a $100 million donation from Kenneth Langone, a Home Depot co-founder, and his wife, Elaine. “It would enable graduates to pick lower-paying fields like primary care and pediatrics, where more good doctors are desperately needed, without overwhelming debt to force them out,” Kenneth said in an interview at the time. In a triumphant report, the school declared, “The ultimate success of this tuition-free initiative will be measured over time by the clinical and research achievements of future graduates, as well as the improvements in diversity of the physician ranks.”
The school’s shift to a tuition-free model has no doubt been a tremendous boon to those students fortunate enough to gain admission. But judged against the standards set out…