Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott announced a wave of unrestricted, record‑setting gifts totaling nearly $300 million to five historically Black colleges and universities, including Prairie View A&M and North Carolina A&T. The donations—ranging from $50 million to $63 million per institution—are among the largest single gifts in the recipients’ histories and will fund scholarships, endowment growth, teaching, research, and student success initiatives. Leaders at the beneficiary campuses called the gifts defining and transformational, citing immediate uses to advance strategic plans and bolster research and student support. Scott’s donations follow a broader multi‑year pattern of large, unrestricted investments in HBCUs that college leaders say accelerate long‑term institutional ambitions. For the sector, the scale and unrestricted nature of the gifts provide rare operating flexibility and highlight the increasing influence of major private philanthropy on campus priorities and equity efforts.