Transformational Gift to Fund Tuition for All UW-MLS Program Seniors
December 02, 2025 in
After morning classes on Monday, December 1, 2025, seniors in the University of Washington’s Medical Laboratory Science Undergraduate Program (UW-MLS) received the extraordinary news that the tuition for their clinical rotations would be fully covered, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor. This remarkable estate gift will provide annual disbursements to the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology Fund for Excellence, estimated to exceed $50M over the next 50 years. We anticipate this gift will fully cover in-state tuition for clinical rotations for all 35 UW-MLS program seniors for decades to come and allow the program to increase from 70 students to 100 students over the next 10 years.
“It has been a long-standing dream to provide more financial support to students during the professional phase of the UW-MLS Program, and we are deeply grateful to the donor whose transformative generosity is making this and our program’s growth possible,” said Dr. Geoff Baird, professor, chair and Paul E. Strandjord and Kathleen J. Clayson Endowed Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at UW Medicine in Seattle.
As part of the UW-MLS program, seniors complete clinical rotations at local hospitals and laboratories, in addition to coursework and preparation for their national board exam. This period is often the most financially challenging for students, as the demands of the program make it nearly impossible to maintain part-time employment.
“This donor’s selfless generosity will allow us to reduce the debt burden for our students and attract more young people to the field, ensuring that our region has the skilled laboratory workforce that is so critical to high-quality, timely patient care,” said Dr. Tim Dellit, CEO of UW Medicine and the Paul G. Ramsey Endowed Dean of the UW School of Medicine.
Demand for laboratory services across Washington state and the rest of the WWAMI region, combined with an aging laboratory tech workforce, has resulted in an urgent need to grow the pipeline of highly skilled clinical laboratory professionals. As one of only two programs in Washington offering baccalaureate-level education in the medical laboratory sciences, our most recent accreditation program review encouraged our program to grow substantially.
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,” said UW President Robert J. Jones. “Its profound impact on student success will lead to more trained healthcare professionals and better health for all Washington residents.
Gift to help cover tuition for students in lab medicine - UW Medicine | Newsroom