Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is on the rise as her streak of donating money to colleges continues. Her most recent was a huge, “life-changing” gift of $17 million to Northern Oklahoma College.
It was the largest donation in the school’s history, she said in a Nov. 22 blog post.
“Northern Oklahoma College has received an unrestricted gift of $17 million from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the largest contribution in the college’s history, which dates back to 1901,” it said.
Scott has donated her money to several colleges over the past few months.
Northern Oklahoma College President Diana Morris thanked Mackenzie Scott for her donation.
“I cannot express enough my gratitude for Ms. Scott’s confidence in the school’s mission and operations by allowing us to allocate resources as we believe are in the school’s best interest,” she said.
Morris said Scott’s gift will help the school achieve its goals and vision.
“Her gift will help us achieve our vision to serve as a model institution and leader in academic quality and cultural enrichment, fostering student success, collaborative learning, creative and forward thinking, and community responsiveness,” she said.
The donation will help the college, where about 80% of students receive financial aid and/or scholarships, while 75% graduate debt-free.
“While this retreat will not occur until January, the decision to allocate these funds will focus on the college’s 2025-2030 strategic plan. This plan was developed with the Oklahoma State Regents’ 2030 Plan for Higher Education in mind, particularly with an emphasis on expanding student offerings and producing workforce-ready graduates,” the college said.
Donations of MacKenzie Scott
MacKenzie Scott is known for her benevolent gifts, often to colleges and their students in need. It has given away more than $740 million to more than a dozen historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), including Howard University and Morgan State University.
Scott also signed the Giving Pledge, a philanthropic model started by Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett that asks the wealthiest individuals in the fund to publicly donate at least 50% of their money to philanthropy.
Much of her wealth comes from her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2019, after which she pledged almost everything to charity. To date, it has donated more than $19 billion to thousands of institutions that focus on DEI, education, disaster recovery and more.
