Bowie State University gets $50M donation from MacKenzie Scott
Bowie State University learned late Friday it received a $50 million unrestricted gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott — the largest single contribution in the university’s 160-year history.
The former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is worth an estimated $42 billion, and she’s pledged to give away most of her fortune.
This is the second multimillion-dollar donation Scott has made to Bowie State and one of several she has made to local historically Black colleges and universities lately.
“I was truly at a loss for words, and it brought tears to my eyes,” Bowie State University President Aminta Breaux told WTOP. “I was overjoyed. I was so overcome. And it’s not often that a president is at a loss for words.”
This donation follows a $25 million gift Scott gave the Prince George’s County university in 2020.
Breaux said, as was the case then, it will be used to help students with additional financial aid. With annual undergraduate tuition and fees at $8,999, Breaux said Bowie State is one of the most affordable universities in the country, but that more must be done to help students.
“We use a percentage of our endowment, with the top priority being scholarships,” she said. “We serve some of the highest-need students and this gift, first and foremost, will be used to help close in on the financial needs for our students. … We’re taking care of this generation of learners as well as future generations.”
Some of the money will also be used to enhance the university’s research efforts.
In the last few years, Scott has donated more than $400 million to HBCUs around the country, including gifts to Howard University and Morgan State University.
“I know what this gift has the ability to do, to touch so many lives,” Breaux said.
She said in a statement that the donation “empowers us to expand access, elevate our research and academic excellence, and uplift generations of students who will lead, serve and innovate. Higher education is the pathway to upward social mobility for our students and the communities we serve, and, with this gift, their futures are brighter than ever.”
Overall, it’s estimated Scott has donated more than $1.7 billion to universities and other charities, and the school’s leadership said it’s clear Scott is committed to the mission of Bowie State and other HBCUs.
Brent Swinton, vice president for philanthropic engagement at Bowie State, said in a release that the donation will allow the university to leverage “this latest transformational gift to inspire even greater support for our brilliant, yet often underresourced students and faculty. When Bowie State thrives, our tight-knit community of alumni, families and partners — across the region and beyond — thrives with us.”
Bowie State ranks 11th among more than the 100 HBCUs nationwide and was founded in 1865. In 1963, it was renamed Bowie State College and renamed once more in 1988 as Bowie State University. The school also became a member of the University System of Maryland in 1988.
It has 29 undergraduate majors, 20 master’s programs, three doctoral programs and 20 certificate programs.