Spelman College Receives $38 Million Unrestricted Gift from Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott to Expand Student Access and Advance Technology

Gift marks the second direct contribution from Scott to Spelman and will support student access and affordability, as well as technology and academic innovation

ATLANTA, Nov. 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spelman College today announced a transformative, unrestricted $38 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, marking her second significant investment in the College in five years. This monumental contribution will accelerate Spelman’s strategic vision, strengthening student access and affordability, and allowing for critical investment in modernizing technology infrastructure.

Scott’s gift enables Spelman to address two of its most pressing strategic priorities: Expanding financial aid and scholarship support to ensure that talented scholars, regardless of their financial background, can complete their education and thrive, and investing in a state-of-the-art technology infrastructure to enhance the academic experience, improve administrative efficiency, and prepare students for a digitally driven world.

“We are profoundly grateful to MacKenzie Scott for this incredibly generous and unrestricted $38 million gift to Spelman College,” said Spelman Interim President Rosalind “Roz” Brewer, C’84. “This investment is a powerful affirmation of our mission and our commitment to educational excellence and equity. The flexibility of this gift allows us to move more swiftly to strengthen the entire student experience, modernize our technology infrastructure, and expand financial opportunity for scholars who call Spelman home. It is an investment in both our present and our future as we continue to advance our legacy of producing change-making global leaders.”

This latest contribution builds on Scott’s earlier $20 million gift to Spelman in 2020, which helped to support student scholarships and increase Spelman’s endowment to provide a lasting source of funding for scholarships and academic programs. Together, these two historic investments underscore Scott’s sustained commitment to advancing educational equity at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and demonstrate her profound confidence in Spelman’s leadership, exceptional student outcomes, and strategic vision for the future.

For nearly 145 years, Spelman has been recognized as a global leader in the education of women of African descent, consistently ranking among the top liberal arts colleges in the nation. This $38 million gift ensures that Spelman will continue to provide a transformative, world class education that is both excellent and accessible, preparing graduates to lead, innovate, and create positive change in their communities and beyond.

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About Spelman College

Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a leading liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, the College’s picturesque campus is home to 2,300 students. Spelman is the country's leading producer of Black women who complete Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The College’s status is confirmed by the U.S. News & World Report, which ranked Spelman No. 39 among all liberal arts colleges, No. 30 for undergraduate teaching, No. 1 for social mobility among liberal arts colleges, and No. 1 for the 18th year among historically Black colleges and universities. Recent initiatives include a designation by the Department of Defense as a Center of Excellence for Minority Women in STEM, a Gender, and Sexuality Studies Institute, the first endowed queer studies chair at an HBCU and a program to increase the number of Black women Ph.D.s in economics. New majors and minors have been added, including documentary filmmaking and photography, data science, refugee studies and gaming. Collaborations have also been established with MIT’s Media Lab , the Broad Institute and the Army Research Lab for artificial intelligence and machine learning, among others.

Outstanding alumnae include Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, former Walgreens Boots Boots Alliance CEO Rosalind Brewer, political leader Stacey Abrams, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook, former Acting Surgeon General and Spelman’s first alumna president Audrey Forbes Manley, Harvard University professor and former Dean Evelynn Hammonds, actress and producer LaTanya Richardson Jackson, global bioinformatics geneticist Janina Jeff and authors Pearl Cleage and Tayari Jones.

To learn more, please visit spelman.edu and @spelmancollege on social media.

CONTACT: Brijea Daniel
Spelman College
brijeadaniel@spelman.edu