Relieving student debt
The Rogers family on vacation in Colorado.
Adam Rogers 92C 96M and Stephanie Fireman Rogers 92C knew the high price tag of education when they were in school at Emory University.
They wanted qualified students to be able to choose Emory freely, regardless of their financial situation, and established two scholarships to help them do that.
"We both loved Emory and looked at the scholarships as a means to open the Emory experience for others," says Adam Rogers, a retina specialist and faculty member at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. "We want to help people who have the ability to be accepted, but who might not be able to afford it."
The Rogers established one scholarship in the School of Medicine and another in the Emory College of Arts and Sciences for students who qualify for the Emory Advantage program. Emory Advantage reduces student debt for students from low- and middle-income families.
The Rogers' ultimate goal is for each of the scholarships to provide full tuition for one student in the medical school and one student in the college every four years.
Medical student debt is threatening to become unmanageable for young physicians. According to a report by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), medical school graduates with debt in 2006 owed about $130,000 on average on graduation. Mean physician income is estimated to be $216,000. Primary care physicians earn an average of about 30% less than the mean, according to the AAMC.
The national report on student debt and education costs, updated in fall 2007, indicated that indebtedness rates are growing at an average of 5.9% for private medical school graduates and 6.9% for their public school counterparts
each year.
