New grant will allow more students to attend UH College of Medicine tuition free
Following an anonymous gift this summer that will provide full four-year scholarships for the inaugural class of the University of Houston’s forthcoming medical school, a new grant will cover the same costs for one-third of the second class.
The UH College of Medicine is expected to open in the fall of 2020 with 30 students and aims for at least half to pursue primary care specialties.
Now, a $3.5 million grant from The John M. O’Quinn Foundation will pay tuition for 10 students in the second class as well as fund college startup costs, faculty hires, labs and a household-centered health care program for underserved communities, UH announced on Oct. 18, 2018.
“Alleviating the financial challenges associated with attending medical school will allow our students to focus on the mission of improving health care and the overall health of communities in Houston and throughout Texas,” UH President Renu Khator said in a statement. “This added financial incentive will help us attract the best and brightest medical students who have a passion for primary care.”
O’Quinn, a well-known Houston attorney and philanthropist who died in 2009, graduated from the UH Law Center and served on the UH System Board of Regents from 1993 to 1999. The O’Quinn Foundation is one of the university’s most generous financial benefactors. The lawyer’s legacy has endured through the O’Quinn Law Library and John M. O’Quinn Field at TDECU Stadium.
“John O’Quinn would have been so pleased that his alma mater was starting a medical school–one which seeks to help so many families in need in Houston and beyond,” said Robert C. Wilson III, president of The John M. O’Quinn Foundation.
The UH College of Medicine is pending approval by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which is set for a vote this month, as well as the Texas Legislature and awaits accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.
Click here to read more about the tuition gift announced in July and about the College of Medicine’s mission in the words of founding dean Dr. Stephen Spann.
