Dubbed as “America's next historically Black college of medicine,” the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine is set to recruit students in the coming weeks for its inaugural class that starts in 2027, college officials said in a statement announcing that the school has earned preliminary accreditation. 
Dr. Reynold Verret, president of Xavier University of Louisiana, described the preliminary accreditation as a “historic moment for Xavier University of Louisiana, for New Orleans and for the future of medicine in this nation.” The college was formed through a partnership between Xavier University of Louisiana, an HBCU, and Ochsner Health, a nonprofit health care provider and academic medical center.
“We are not simply opening the doors of a new medical school,” Verret said. “We are expanding who will have the opportunity to become a physician, strengthening the communities those physicians will serve and helping to shape the future of healthcare for generations to come.”
The new college of medicine is located in the BioDistrict of New Orleans. Its leaders say by 2040, the school’s operation is projected to contribute $152.5 million in economic impact across Louisiana, including $122 million in New Orleans, and support more than 1,185 jobs statewide.
The HBCU-affiliated medical school will help fill a critical void in the region’s healthcare workforce. College leaders note that projections show the U.S. could face a shortage of more than 141,000 physicians by 2038 and that Louisiana is among the “most affected states,” with 60 of its 64 parishes federally designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas, or HPSAs.
“Graduates from HBCU medical schools, which train nearly 70% of the nation's Black physicians, are more likely to serve communities with the greatest healthcare needs,” the school said in its statement.
The Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine arrives at a time when medical schools are facing increased federal scrutiny over their admission practices.
The Trump-led Department of Justice has issued findings against several medical schools, accusing the schools of racial discrimination against white and Asian applicants by using race instead of academic factors, such as GPA and MCAT scores, to admit less academically qualified Black and Hispanic applicants.
The Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine now becomes one of just three HBCU medical schools, The Grio reports. The other two are the Howard University College of Medicine and Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee.
