When the Albert Einstein College of Medicine announced earlier this week that it would go tuition-free thanks to a $1 billion donation, it joined a growing movement to sharply reduce the financial barriers that can deter aspiring doctors.

Medical schools around the country—and especially in pricey New York City—are using scholarships to try to establish a more diverse population of healthcare workers and allow them the financial freedom to consider jobs in crucial, but often lower paying, fields like pediatrics and internal medicine.

The programs, backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in donations, have led to jumps in applications at several of the schools. School officials say they show promise in attracting more students from underrepresented backgrounds, but critics warn their reach is limited given how selective most of the participating institutions are and how heavily some weigh standardized tests in admissions.