Howard University Lands $80M Gift from MacKenzie Scott

News

Published by Stephen Oluwadara at November 3, 2025

Timely Donation During Education Funding Shutdown

Howard University says the gift comes at an “opportune time” because the federal government shutdown has delayed the annual federal appropriations the school receives.

Those funds support student success, academic programming, research, and the operations of the university and Howard University Hospital. This timing is especially crucial as those funds underpin many of the university’s core activities.

Highlighting the impact of this gift, Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA, FACS, interim president and president emeritus of Howard University said the investment comes at a crucial moment.

“This historic investment will not only help maintain our current momentum, but will help support essential student aid, advance infrastructure improvements, and build a reserve fund to further sustain operational continuity, student success, academic excellence, and research innovation.”

Owing to the shutdown that began on Oct. 1, new grant awards from the Department of Education have been halted because nearly 95 % of non‑student‑aid staff were laid off, leaving only essential personnel to keep working.

Key initiatives such as the HBCU Capital Financing Program, which offers renovation and construction loan subsidies, are now left in limbo. It is particularly an unfortunate timing, given that the Education Department announced in September a $495 million increase for HBCUs and tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCCUs) for FY 2025.

Meanwhile, education experts say this action is hard to reconcile with the Trump administration’s desire to dissolve the DOE. “If (the Trump administration) actually … cared about HBCUs and tribal colleges, then you would not see such a big attack on other sectors of higher education,” Mike  Hoa Nguyen, an associate professor of education at UCLA, recently told The American Prospect.

Scott’s latest contribution builds on her previous gifts to Howard University and the College of Medicine, reaffirming her continued investment in the university’s mission and legacy of educating generations of Howard medical students. It also underscores her commitment to developing health professionals, researchers, scholars, and leaders across every sector.

MacKenzie Scott’s Legacy of DEI Dedication

Scott’s latest gift to Howard University builds on a series of recent donations that foreground diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In addition to her historic contribution to Howard, she has directed $42 million to 10,000 Degrees, a Bay‑Area nonprofit that works to expand college access for low‑income and predominantly non‑white students.

This investment joins eight‑figure commitments she has made to Native student scholars and to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) through the United Negro College Fund (UNCF).

In September 2025, Scott pledged $70 million to UNCF as part of a coordinated campaign to bolster pooled endowments across 37 HBCUs. The strategy is intended to create more robust revenue streams. It also aims to narrow the historic wealth and funding gaps that have long disadvantaged these institutions.

Then, in October, the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund announced a $40 million gift from Scott. That donation doubles the amount she gave the organization in 2021 and accounts for roughly 20 % of its fundraising total to date.

Scott emphasizes, though, that while the dollar amounts are high, they don’t fully represent their level of impact. “When my next cycle of gifts is posted to my database online, the dollar total will likely be reported in the news,” she wrote in an Oct. 15 essay on her organization Yield Giving’s site.

“But any dollar amount is a vanishingly tiny fraction of the personal expressions of care being shared into the world this year. “The potential of peaceful, non‑transactional contribution has long been underestimated, often on the basis that it is not financially self‑sustaining, or that some of its benefits are hard to track,” she continued. “But what if these imagined liabilities are actually assets?”

These layered contributions illustrate a broader philanthropic vision. By targeting both immediate student support and long‑term institutional stability, Scott is helping to reshape the landscape of higher education for underrepresented communities.

Main Image: Howard University Washington DC – Founders Library