The U.S. is one of the most expensive places to go to college and with millions of people out of work due to the pandemic it seems further education is even more out of reach for many Americans.
More than 50 percent of students now say they can’t afford their college tuition, according to CNBC citing a survey by OneClass.
Calvin Tyler knows all about the high cost of college. In 1961 he enrolled at Morgan State University to study business administration. He was the first in his family to attend college but two years later he had to drop out because he couldn’t afford it, as per a statement from the college.
Instead he became a UPS driver, one of the first 10 to work for the company in the Maryland city, according to ABC7 News.
Now, almost 40 years later, Tyler has made his fortune working his way to the top of the company becoming senior vice president of operations. He retired in 1998 and now sits on UPS’s board of directors.
Not only has Tyler worked his way to the top, but he is also giving back to help those students who are in the same situation as he was all those years ago.
Tyler and his wife have donated $20 million to the college that Tyler couldn’t afford when he was a teenager.
Largest ever private donation
The donation was the largest ever private donation from an alumnus to the historically Black school, now Morgan State University, with the money going to their already-established endowed scholarship fund The Calvin and Tina Tyler Endowed Scholarship Fund.
Set up in 2002, the fund initially gave need-based full tuition scholarships to students in Baltimore but has since been expanded to benefit students from anywhere.
Tyler said colleges have been hit hard during the pandemic especially historically black colleges and universities which tend to have smaller endowments.
“My wife and I have become keenly aware of the effect that the pandemic has had on a number of young people trying to get an education (and) we have the resources to help a lot of young people,” Tyler said in a statement, as per ABC7 News.
“This is why we are increasing our commitment at Morgan; we want to have more full tuition scholarships offered to young people so that they can graduate from college and enter the next stage of their life debt free.”
In 2016, the couple committed $5 million to the school, then the largest such gift in Morgan State’s history. Their scholarship fund so far has helped more than 200 students attend Morgan State, with 46 receiving full scholarships, the news outlet reported.
“Morgan is so proud to call this son and daughter of the great City of Baltimore our own, and through their historic giving, the doors of higher education will most certainly be kept open for generations of aspiring leaders whose financial shortfalls may have kept them from realizing their academic dreams,” said the school’s president, David Wilson, as per a college statement.
What an amazing and generous investment in the next generation of scholars. I hope their actions inspire others to help those who are less fortunate with the gift of education.
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