The Hackensack Meridian Health board of trustees voted to establish a $100 million endowment fund for scholarships for students seeking to attend the Edison, N.J.-based health system's joint medical school, Hackensack Meridian Health Co-CEO Robert Garrett told TapInto.
The goal of the endowment is to provide qualified students with the financial means to attend medical school by lowering the cost of their education and subsequently lowering their student loan debt, which can average up to $179,000, according to an October 2017 research letter published in JAMA.
The Seton Hall Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine in Nutley and Clifton, N.J., began accepting applications for its inaugural class of students in March after receiving preliminary accreditation by Liaison Committee on Medical Education the month prior. The first class of 55 students will begin in July.
Along with its medical school, South Orange, N.J.-based Seton Hall University will relocate its nursing and health and medical sciences schools to a single interprofessional health sciences campus in Nutley and Clifton this spring, according to TapInto.