MacKenzie Scott’s education philanthropy continues to expand, with Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC) becoming the latest tribal institution to receive a historic gift.
According to KWIT, the college announced it has been awarded $7 million from the MacKenzie Scott Foundation, marking the largest single donation in NICC’s history.
NICC President Dr. Michael Oltrogge said the contribution recognizes both the scope of the college’s work and the limitations tribal institutions often face. “We do so much for our communities by preserving and revitalizing cultures and languages, expanding educational opportunities, and strengthening sovereignty, all with limited resources,” Oltrogge said. “This gift recognizes that reality, and more importantly, it recognizes the potential of our students.”
Nebraska Indian Community College serves Native communities across the state and focuses on culturally grounded education, workforce preparation, and community development.
According to Oltrogge, the $7 million donation will not be spent immediately. Instead, the college plans to build long-term stability by placing the principal into an investment structure. NICC intends to use half of the annual interest while reinvesting the remaining portion to allow the endowment to grow for future generations. The funding will support academic programs, student services, faculty development, and institutional growth over time.
NICC joins a growing list of tribal colleges that have received multi-million-dollar gifts from Scott in recent months. In November, Little Priest Tribal College in Winnebago, Nebraska, received $5 million as it prepared to launch a long-term capital campaign.
Bay Mills Community College in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was awarded $9 million to support new programs and campus infrastructure, including its Allied Health Facility.
Scott has also directed $50 million to the Native Forward Scholars Fund to address a sharp rise in scholarship requests from Native American students across the country.
Together, those gifts bring Scott’s contributions to Scott's tribal college and Native education 2025 to roughly $50 million, according to figures released by recipient institutions.
At the same time, Scott’s giving to historically Black colleges and universities has reached an extraordinary scale this year. In 2025 alone, she has donated more than $740 million to HBCUs.
Those contributions include $80 million to Howard University; $63 million each to Prairie View A&M University and North Carolina A&T State University; $50 million to institutions such as Norfolk State University, Bowie State University, and Winston-Salem State University; $38 million to Xavier University of Louisiana and Spelman College; and $19 million to Dillard University.
She also provided $70 million to the United Negro College Fund to strengthen shared endowment resources for nearly 40 HBCUs.
When combined, Scott’s 2025 investments in tribal colleges, Native-serving organizations, and HBCUs total nearly $800 million—approaching a billion dollars directed to institutions that primarily serve communities historically underrepresented in higher education.
Since pledging in 2019 to give away most of her wealth, Scott has distributed more than $19 billion through her foundation to nonprofits and educational institutions in the United States and globally. The $7 million gift to Nebraska Indian Community College further extends her education-focused philanthropy, adding another tribal institution to the expanding list reshaped by her support.