Unsplash: @querysproutThe Alice L. Walton School of Medicine has officially opened in Bentonville, Arkansas, welcoming its first class of 48 students on July 14, 2025.
The school, founded by Walmart heiress and the world’s richest woman, Alice Walton, is offering free tuition to its first five graduating classes.
AWSOM is built around a “whole health” approach, shifting away from traditional symptom-focused training to include prevention, lifestyle, mental health, environment, and the arts. The curriculum integrates topics such as nutrition, stress management, and cultural awareness alongside conventional medical sciences.
The Bentonville campus has been designed to reflect this philosophy. It features healing gardens, rooftop parks, reflection ponds, and a wellness studio, with direct access to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which Walton also founded.
A new model for medical training
Walton, who has an estimated net worth exceeding $80 billion, launched the school after her own experiences navigating health care. AWSOM’s mission is to produce physicians who will work in medically underserved areas and promote a more preventive, patient-centered style of care.
The first class was selected from more than 2,200 applicants. Students will complete a four-year program that meets accreditation standards while embedding whole-person health concepts into every stage of training.
The school is one of the few new medical institutions to open in the United States in recent years, joining a limited number that have committed to covering tuition for their early cohorts.