DETROIT, MICH. — Ten students are about to get a big helping hand toward their dream of becoming a doctor. Wayne State University will announce today it will pay for the complete education of 10 students each year from undergraduate to medical school.

The move is aimed at getting talented students from low-income backgrounds into and through med school and eventually to work on addressing issues around health disparities.

“I want Wayne State to be known as the place for training biomedical scientists and MDs,” Wayne State President M. Roy Wilson told the Detroit Free Press in an exclusive interview. “We want kids who can go anywhere, but choose to go to Wayne.”

The program, Wayne Med-Direct, will include four years of paid undergraduate tuition, four years of paid undergraduate room and board costs in university housing and four years of paid medical school tuition, a total savings of $251,000.

It will admit 10 new students each year starting next summer. The university is accepting applications until Jan. 15.

To get into the program, a student will have to have a minimum 3.5 grade point average and 1340 SAT or 30 ACT score, be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and be an incoming freshman. Preference will be given to students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds who are also interested in studying health disparities. It is open to students from anywhere.

Source: Detroit Free Press