Microsoft to Donate $25 Million to New Scholarship Fund Aiming to Raise $1 Billion in a Decade

Microsoft has pledged $25 million over the next five years to the new Washington Opportunity Scholarship program and endowment, which became reality after Gov. Christine Gregoire’s Higher Education Funding Task Force worked to ensure that the necessary legislation for the public-private fund would be created.

Brad Smith, Microsoft general counsel and senior vice president chaired a Higher Education Funding Task Force, and now applauded the newly created opportunity for the Redmond company to help Washington students earn bachelor’s degrees.

The software giant was not alone in the donation, with the Boeing Company also making a similar pledge to the Washington Opportunity Scholarship program, which has the state’s two largest private employers offering a total of $50 million over the next five years.

“These new contributions help forge a partnership between the public and private sectors to put higher education on a stronger financial footing and enable more students to go to college,” Smith said.

“Given tougher state budget climates here and across the country, we need new and creative steps to ensure that our colleges remain open to talented students from all economic backgrounds. This new initiative gives our state and our students a new opportunity to develop the skills that a globally competitive economy will require.”

Over the past five years, Microsoft donated in excess of $35 million to various education programs in Washington alone.

The upcoming $25 million that the company will contribute to the Washington Opportunity Scholarship program will be used to provide chances for low- and middle-income students to get their bachelor’s degrees.

The Washington Opportunity Scholarship program’s most immediate goal is to raise $100 million that will be used for scholarships, but the amount that the initiative is aiming for is $1 billion over the next decade.

Smith stressed the critical need for members of the public sector to get involved into supporting student scholarships with contributions which will be matched by the state in order to compensate for the decrease in direct state funding and increasing student tuition bills.

“We recognize that the new Washington Opportunity Scholarship isn’t a complete answer for improving student access to higher education. Ultimately, we need to do even more to shore up state support for higher education in good times and bad,” Smith stated.

“However, this is a critical step in maintaining and increasing access to quality educational opportunities for the students of our state. We’re optimistic that additional donations will follow from the examples set by Boeing and Microsoft today, and that additional innovations will emerge to help more students get the type of college education that will strengthen the state’s and the country’s economic competitiveness.”