We’re rounding up which institutions received donations since mid-October and how much the philanthropist has given them over the past few years.
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is on another donation spree, giving more than $860 million total to higher education institutions since mid-October, including over a dozen historically Black colleges and universities and at least four tribal colleges.
In 2019 — the same year Scott and her ex-husband, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, divorced — she pledged to give away most of her wealth. Scott’s fortune is estimated to be worth $40.4 billion, according to Bloomberg.
On Monday, Texas A&M University-Kingsville announced it had received a $38 million donation from Scott. Officials at the Hispanic-serving institution said they plan to use the funding to increase tuition affordability, support a new rural nursing program and launch academic offerings aligned with local workforce needs, among other efforts.
On the same day, Bay Mills Community College said it received a $9 million donation from Scott. Duane Bedell, president of the Michigan tribal college, said the funding would be used to develop new programs and infrastructure.
So far, Howard University, in Washington, D.C., has garnered the largest donation among Scott’s recent gifts to colleges. Earlier this month, the philanthropist donated the HBCU $80 million, earmarking $17 million of that amount for its medical college.
Most of the colleges have received gifts from Scott before.
Scott has made mass donations to higher education institutions in previous years — by 2021, she had given at least $1.5 billion total to roughly six dozen institutions. Her other rounds of donations have likewise focused on minority-serving institutions, such as Hispanic-serving institutions and HBCUs.
Below, we’re rounding up colleges that have received gifts from Scott in her latest donation spree. Let us know if we’ve missed any announcements.
