12 Black celebrities who have helped students pay for college, from Tyler Perry to Oprah Winfrey

Tyler Perry joins a growing list of Black celebrities who have been generous in supporting college students in need. 

A woman in Alabama is Harvard-bound thanks to the generosity of Tyler Perry. 

On Friday, July 31, Janay Duberry, a recent graduate of Tuskegee University, revealed that the 56-year-old TV and film producer is helping to cover her tuition at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

“After years of writing, building, networking, and earning my degree at Tuskegee University, I was accepted into Harvard,” Duberry wrote. “Harvard gave me generous financial aid, but I still faced a significant financial gap and did not know how I would make this dream a reality.”

Then, she said, “God made a way,” and it was in the form of Perry stepping in to assist and believing “in my gifts as a writer and educator.”

Duberry continued, “Your generosity has opened the door for me to continue my education, strengthen my voice as a writer and educator, and move closer to the forthcoming books and educational work I have been building.”

With the generous donation, the Tyler Perry Studios founder joins a growing list of Black celebrities who have opened up their hearts and their wallets for Black students pursuing higher education. The list of those who have personally helped with college tuition spans billionaires, radio hosts, R&B stars, rappers, sports legends, and more, who have all taken time out of the limelight to give back to the next generation of minds. Below, we round up 11 more superstars from Oprah Winfrey to Travis Scott to Rihanna and beyond who have helped pay tuition for students. 

Travis Scott

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in October, after fans appealed to the rapper for help replacing AirPods, a hoodie, and other items lost at one of his recent shows, Travis Scott decided to do one even better. He pledged to help five students who attended HBCUs cover their tuition for the rest of the semester. He said part of his inspiration was that both of his parents attended HBCUs—his mother attended Louisiana’s Grambling State University, while his father attended Prairie View A&M in Texas.

Charlamagne Tha God

It was in October 2019 that Charlamagne Tha God turned up in his home state at South Carolina State University to launch the $250,000 Ford Family Endowed Scholarship. The award was named in honor of his grandmother and was launched to support scholarships for students. 

Robert F. Smith

Perhaps not a household name before, billionaire and philanthropist Robert F. Smith—who amassed his wealth by founding Vista Equity Partners—certainly became one in 2019 when he famously paid off the student loans of the entire graduating class of Morehouse College that year.

Beyoncé

There are four people walking around in the world with an education paid for in part because of how much they love Beyoncé’s album “Lemonade.” In 2017, the Grammy winner launched the Formation Scholarship, a tuition award funded by her company, Parkwood Entertainment, named after the final track on “Lemonade,” that supported young black female scholars. The recipients wrote an essay describing what “Lemonade” meant for part of their application process and were each awarded $25,000. 

Nikki Minaj

Many may recall in 2017, when a fan reached out to Nikki Minaj online asking for help with college tuition and caught the rapper in a generous mood, who not only obliged the fan but then turned around and opened the offer to others, ultimately paying over $18,000 in support to fans for tuition, loans, and books. 

Rihanna

Bad Girl Riri, who has a long, well-documented background in philanthropy, showed her generous side in 2016 when she announced on her Instagram that through her Clara Lionel Foundation, she would be awarding citizens of Brazil, Barbados, Cuba, Haiti, Grenada, Guyana, or Jamaica between $5,000 and $50,000 towards their college education in the US. 

Anthony Anderson

In 2015, Anthony Anderson, who can recall firsthand the challenges of affording his education at Howard University, led the charge in partnering with the United Negro College Fund, along with several other notable Black celebrities, to donate over $500,000 in college scholarships to 20 students. Other celebrities who joined him in the initiative included Usher, Toni Braxton, Pharrell Williams, Kevin Hart, Big Sean, and NBA player Chris Paul. 

Anderson didn’t stop there. He also partnered with R&B singers Ronnie DeVoe of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe to pay off an HBCU graduate’s student loan debt of more than $11,000.

LeBron James

The collegiate charity of LeBron James runs deep. In February 2020, 193 students from James’ I Promise school showed up for their 11th-grade outing at Kent State University, where they famously learned that they would have all four years of their schooling paid for, along with one year of room and board. The basketball star has also announced initiatives in recent years to send students from his James Family Foundation program to the University of Akron, which could send more than 2,300 students to college. 

Michael Jordan

While the legendary basketball player Michael Jordan rarely speaks openly about his private acts of charity, it is well known that since 2014, through the Jordan Wings Program, he has been funding full college scholarships for over 1,800 students and counting. The former Chicago Bulls star has also given millions to HBCUs and other college initiatives over the years, benefiting scholarships and more for students.  

will.i.am

Launched in 2009 initially, will.i.am’s i.am scholarship, which covers all expenses associated with pursuing higher education, including tuition, books, fees, room and board, for a maximum of four years at an accredited US institution, has awarded more than $1 million to 137 scholars and counting. Currently, the award is offered only to students who have completed the i.am STEAM and i.am College Track programs.

Oprah Winfrey

In 1989, Oprah Winfrey, who has given hundreds of millions of dollars to causes around the world, first launched a scholarship fund for Morehouse students. Then three decades later, in 2019, she pledged $13 million to the same fund, bringing the total investment to $25 million. In that same year, the global TV star also donated nearly $1.15 million to the United Negro College Fund. 

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