MacKenzie Scott Donates $42M To Elizabeth City State University

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MacKenzie Scott is continuing to champion historically Black colleges and universities, awarding $42 million to Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. Scott’s current donation is the latest in an ongoing series of record-setting contributions the philanthropist has made to HBCUs.

According to Forbes, Elizabeth City State University Chancellor S. Keith Hargrove Sr. made the donation announcement during the school’s Founders Day Convocation, adding that this was the largest per-student donation that Scott has ever made.

“The university enrolls roughly 2,500 students, making the contribution particularly significant relative to its student population. The gift also follows Scott’s earlier $15 million donation to the university in 2020,” Complex reports.

The money will support the institution’s ASCEND 2030 strategic plan, which will expand scholarship opportunities and improve campus infrastructure, which will include academic, residential, and athletic facilities.

“I want to express our deepest gratitude to MacKenzie Scott for this remarkable act of generosity and for her recognition of the critical role that HBCUs play in expanding opportunity and strengthening communities,” Hargrove said in the university’s announcement, Complex reports.

“Gifts like this do more than provide resources; they accelerate momentum.”

Scott’s latest gift to Elizabeth City State University, which was founded in 1891 and recently celebrated its 135th anniversary, continues her recent investment in historically Black colleges. Scott has become one of the major benefactors in preserving the legacy of HBCUs, in 2025 alone, she distributed more than $740 million to HBCUs.

“Major recipients included Howard University ($80 million), Prairie View A&M University ($63 million), North Carolina A&T State University ($63 million), Bowie State University ($50 million), Norfolk State University ($50 million), Winston-Salem State University ($50 million), Xavier University of Louisiana ($38 million), Spelman College ($38 million), Dillard University ($19 million), and Lincoln University ($25 million),” Complex notes.

Scott also donated some $70 million to the United Negro College Fund, which will support several endowments to different HBCUs across the country.

Complex notes that Scott’s giving is not just limited to HBCUs as she’s also given to “tribal colleges such as Bay Mills Community College, Nebraska Indian Community College, and Little Priest Tribal College confirmed multi-million-dollar donations over the past year, while community colleges, including Northern Oklahoma College, Bladen Community College, and Robeson Community College, also reported historic gifts.”