Billionaire MacKenzie Scott (the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos), known for her philanthropic donations, has made one of her largest single gifts, donating $70 million to the United Negro College Fund. The gift comes as the UNCF is conducting a campaign to raise $1 billion for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which have historically been underfunded.

Scott gives ‘$70 million landmark gift’ to UNCF

The UNCF announced Tuesday on its Instagram account that it had received a $70 million donation from Scott. “MacKenzie Scott’s $70 million landmark gift is what it looks like to stand with HBCUs and students,” the organization stated in the caption. It continued, “This gift will support UNCF’s $1 billion Capital Campaign and be invested in the UNCF Members Pooled Endowment Fund.”

The post detailed the substantive impact that Scott’s gift will make for funding for the HBCUs that are members of the UNCF. “The impact will be substantial: the median endowment of UNCF member schools would rise from $15.9 million to $25.9 million—a 63% increase,” the post states.

Such a significant boost to HBCU endowments is a major boost to schools that have often operated with fewer resources than other schools. HBCUs received an unexpected boost recently when the Trump administration redirected an additional $435 million in Department of Education funding to HBCUs. The move came even as the Trump administration has cut funding for Hispanic-serving institutions and sought to shut down the Department of Education and discontinue or reassign its activities. In 2024, the Biden administration announced an additional $1.3 billion in HBCU funding, part of over $17 billion in investment into the schools during Biden’s term. Even with these funding boosts, a significant funding gap persists, and HBCUs remain significantly underfunded compared to other universities.

Scott giving away billions, supporting Black education and more

Scott, an author who gained most of her wealth through her divorce from Jeff Bezos in 2019, signed the Giving Pledge that year, committing to donating her fortune “until the safe is empty.” As of December 2024, Scott had given away more than $19 billion, making her one of the largest single donors in the United States. Her gifts, often totaling millions of dollars or tens of millions of dollars each, are generally “unrestricted,” allowing recipients to use the money as they see fit. In addition to supporting colleges, Scott has often supported Black and other minority-owned organizations and services with large donations, such as $2 million to a Black doula organization.

Much of Scott’s giving has gone toward education, with a special focus on HBCUs. In 2020, The Washington Post reported that Scott gave over $500 million to HBCUs, representing the majority of the over $800 million she had given to colleges and universities that year. These gifts were transformational for schools such as Morehouse, Spelman and Clark Atlanta, which received a total of $55 million from Scott in 2020. In 2020, Scott donated $10 million to UNCF.

“We are deeply grateful for MacKenzie Scott’s continued support,” UNCF President Michael Lomax said regarding Scott’s current donation, per The Associated Press. Lomax also noted the appreciation of the strings-free nature of the donation. “By entrusting UNCF to decide how best to use these funds, she affirms that HBCUs merit investment at this scale and her generosity will strengthen our member institutions and provide pathways to success for tomorrow’s changemakers.”

As HBCUs seek to close the funding gap that exists within United States education, Scott has singlehandedly boosted the financial situations of Black schools through her charitable giving over the last five years. Now, she has made one of her largest gifts to the UNCF at a pivotal moment for that organization and for Black higher education around the country.

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