Nearly 400 students who graduated from Morehouse College in 2019 received an incredible gift at their commencement ceremony when Robert F. Smith, the billionaire founder, chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, announced he’d be paying off all of their student loans.
And it turns out, he’s not done giving.
Which isn’t to say that Smith’s gift wasn’t massive on its own, as well as massively inspiring.
Thanks to his generosity, almost 400 people will be able to take the next big step in their lives without worrying about the crushing debts they had accrued over the previous years.
“You great Morehouse men are bound only by the limits of your own conviction and creativity,” Smith said during his address.
It seems he had more room in his budget, however, because now he’s covering the students’ parents’ education debt, too.
When the bill for Smith’s pledge was tallied up, those student loans he’d promised to pay off came to $34 million, which was still less than the $40 million cap he had put on his pledge, according to a press release .
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Smith’s gift comes with some big aims attached.
“It is our hope that our graduates will use their newfound financial freedom to pursue their career goals, to lead and serve the community, and to remember the spirit of the gift given to them by paying it forward to support the education of future classes of Morehouse Men,” said Morehouse’s president, David A. Thomas.
However, there’s also a bit of interesting research involved as well.
Because it’s such a rare thing, Smith’s gift represents an amazing learning opportunity.
And so, as part of the Morehouse Student Success Program, the 2019 grads will study how they use their newfound financial freedom, and how student loan debts or lack thereof affect both them and their families.
The hope is that by showing how positively Smith’s gift affects these grads, it might encourage more and more debt relief for future grads.
“Morehouse’s program to provide debt relief to new graduates is a fund-raising opportunity that should be studied and duplicated nationally,” said the United Negro College Fund’s president and CEO, Michael L. Lomax. “The impact of such a gift, particularly for minority or economically disadvantaged families, could accelerate the growth of a more diverse and robust middle class.”
h/t: Business Insider , NBC News
