MacKenzie Scott is continuing her giving streak to colleges, this time with a $17 million “life-changing” donation to Northern Oklahoma College.
The billionaire philanthropist’s eye-watering gift was the single largest contribution in the college’s history, which dates back to 1901, the school recently announced in a Facebook post.
Scott acquired much of her $38.9 billion fortune from her 2019 divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and she since has pledged to give away most of her wealth through her organization Yield Giving. So far, she’s donated well over $19 billion across thousands of organizations, focused on issues including DEI, education, disaster recovery, and more.
“I cannot possibly adequately articulate my gratitude for Ms. Scott’s vote of confidence in the mission and activities of the college by allowing us to allocate the resources as we believe are in the best interest of the college,” said NOC president Diana Morris in the post.
And the money is well-needed; about 80% of students at the college receive financial aid and/or scholarships, with 75% of the pupils completing their degrees with zero debt.
