After $38 million donation to Louisiana’s Xavier University, MacKenzie Scott has given HBCUs over $740 million (and counting) in 2025
The philanthropist has donated $19 billion since her 2019 divorce from Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos.
Mackenzie Scott’s philanthropy appears to have no end.
Weeks after the billionaire donated $50 million to Winston-Salem State University, Scott donated $38 million to Xavier University, the largest private donation in the New Orleans school’s history.
Scott, a major benefactor of Historically Black Colleges and Universities over the last few years, has donated more than $740 million in 2025 alone. The $38 million donation to Xavier is her second to the nation’s only Black and Catholic university. In 2020, she donated $20 million to the school, at the time the largest donation ever given to the university. School officials said the unrestricted gift would “grow its endowment, expand need-based scholarships and fund new faculty positions.”
In a statement, Xavier President Reynold Verret called Scott’s latest generous donation “humbling and inspiring,” stating that this donation would go toward supporting the university’s $500 million fundraising campaign, whose primary goals are “increasing student financial aid, improving campus facilities, expanding student support services and boosting faculty recruitment.”
Additionally, the pact between Scott and the university represents another step in the university’s effort to make itself more affordable for students from diverse backgrounds.
“This generous gift from MacKenzie Scott fills us with profound gratitude,” Verret said. “Ms. Scott’s belief in Xavier’s mission strengthens our resolve to carry forward the legacy of Saint Katharine Drexel and prepare future generations to lead with truth, justice, and service.”
After Scott divorced Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos in 2019, she pledged she would donate half of her fortune to charity. Since that decree, Scott has given away $19 billion of her $32 billion net worth.
“There’s no question in my mind that anyone’s personal wealth is the product of a collective effort, and of social structures which present opportunities to some people, and obstacles to countless others,” Scott wrote in a 2020 blog post.
Not long after that post, Scott began making donations to various HBCUs, including Howard University, Tougaloo College, and Dillard University.
Here’s a complete list of donations to HBCU(s) Scott has given in 2025:
Alabama State University: $38 million
Alcorn State University: $42 million
Bowie State University: $50 million
Clark Atlanta University: $38 million
Howard University: $80 million
North Carolina A&T University: $63 million
Morgan State University: $63 million
Norfolk State University: $40 million
Prairie View A&M University: $63 million
Spelman College: $38 million
United Negro College Fund: $70 million
Virginia State University: $50 million
Voorhees University: $19 million
Winston-Salem State University: $50 million
University of Maryland Eastern Shore: $38 million
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