Here’s the latest I can share from recent reporting:
MacKenzie Scott has continued a high-volume giving spree to higher education, with multiple six- and seven-figure gifts announced in late 2024 through 2025, including substantial unrestricted support to several HBCUs and state universities. These gifts are described as transformative for the recipient institutions and their student support and endowment efforts.
In late 2025, coverage highlighted totals surpassing $1 billion in higher-ed gifts for the year, with Scott’s contributions to dozens of colleges and related organizations noted as unrestricted and aimed at strengthening endowments, access, and capacity.
Notable individual gifts mentioned in major outlets during this period include large unrestricted donations to Morgan State University, Alabama State University, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and the University System of Maryland institutions, among others. The gifts are often described as the largest or most transformative in the institutions’ histories.
A March 2026 report noted continued attention on Elizabeth City State University’s $42 million gift, framing it as one of the larger per-student gifts among HBCUs in the campus’ history, reflecting Scott’s ongoing focus on historically underfunded institutions.
Key takeaways
If you want, I can pull the very latest headlines and pull direct quotes or create a quick timeline of the major gifts this year. Also, I can summarize any specific institution’s gift and its intended use if you have a school in mind.
MacKenzie Scott donated $50 million to Cal State East Bay—the largest gift in the struggling university's history—as part of an $860 million higher education giving spree since October. The school lost 25% of its enrollment and faces a $13.2 million deficit, making Scott's unrestricted donation
www.universityherald.com[Episcopal News Service] Voorhees University, one of two historically Black universities with ties to The Episcopal Church, announced over the weekend that it had received $19 million from the phil…
episcopalnewsservice.orgWith a new round of gifts in the past few days, MacKenzie Scott's total giving to dozens of colleges and other higher education groups now tops $1 billion for the year.
www.forbes.comThe philanthropist's giving to the sector has had a heavy focus on minority-serving schools and those with relatively high shares of low-income students.
www.highereddive.comPhilanthropist MacKenzie Scott continued her latest giving spree this week, showering millions of dollars on another slew of higher ed institutions.
www.insidehighered.comAlabama State University President Dr. Quinton T. Ross Jr. said the donation is \
www.usatoday.comIn just the span of one month billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated more than $300 million to various colleges and higher scholarship funds.
www.forbes.comMacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon's founder, has given away billions of dollars in recent years, and the latest recipient is the education non-profit Communities In Schools. President and CEO Rey Saldaña joins "CBS Mornings" for the exclusive announcement, and shares his plans for the $133.5 million gift.
www.cbsnews.comMacKenzie Scott's donations to colleges serving often overlooked students were a surprise — and potentially transformational.
www.nytimes.com