Students Thought They Were ‘In Trouble.’ Instead They Learned Anonymous Donor’s $50M Gift Was Covering Their Tuition

Some University of Washington students will soon get a major financial break — thanks to an anonymous donor.

Earlier this month, the University of Washington announced in a press release that an approximately $50 million gift will help cover senior-year tuition for undergraduate students in UW’s Medical Laboratory Science Program while they complete clinical rotations.

The university said the funding will be applied to in-state students, whose tuition typically runs between $4,000 and $5,000, and will support all seniors in the program. UW currently has 70 students enrolled, including 35 who have already started their senior-year clinical rotations.

“I was shocked at first, and it took a second for me to process that they are going to pay our tuition. And then I felt a lot of relief,” said Jasmine Wertz, 30, a senior in the program, in the university’s press release.

Speaking with the Seattle Times, fellow student Jennifer Wang said students had been told to expect major news and to “dress properly,” but didn’t know what the announcement would be.

“We thought we were going to be in trouble,” Wang said.

Graduates of the program are trained to perform clinical laboratory tests and can pursue careers in hospitals and clinics, research settings, or academic institutions as educators.

“Some people don’t even know we exist, or they think it’s robots or something,” Dr. Geoff Baird told the Seattle Times.

During the event, officials emphasized the essential role medical laboratory scientists play in healthcare. As one school leader told students, “you are the glue, in many ways, of our entire health system.”

“You are the unsung heroes. You work behind the scenes that allow all of the health care machinery to work,” said Dr. Tim Dellit, CEO of UW Medicine and dean of the School of Medicine, according to the newspaper.

For many students, the support arrives at a critical time. Clinical rotations often require a full-time schedule, making it difficult to balance work and coursework.

“Our schedule is very demanding, especially when we start clinical rotations for 40 hours a week,” Wertz said in the university’s press release. “It’s very hard to find time between studying and doing rotations to be able to hold a job.”

Wertz also expressed gratitude for the donor’s contribution, noting the broader impact on students entering the field.

“Just thinking of the gift they’ve given to so many people. Thank you for acknowledging our major and our career as a viable source of healthcare,” she said.

The gift will also be used to strengthen the program itself, with plans to expand enrollment to 100 students over the next decade — a step the university said is especially important as Washington state faces a shortage of medical laboratory specialists amid rising demand for lab services.

UW also noted that there are only two programs in Washington state that offer “baccalaureate-level medical science degrees.”

“This donor’s selfless generosity will allow us to reduce the debt burden for our students and attract more young people to the field to ensure that our region has the skilled laboratory workforce that is so critical to high-quality, timely patient care,” Dellit said.

“This extraordinary gift advances one of our highest priorities: making a UW education accessible and debt-free and enabling students who are passionate about healthcare to pursue their goals,” UW President Robert J. Jones added. “Its profound impact on student success will lead to more trained healthcare professionals and better health for all Washington residents.”