MacKenzie Scott has once again broadened her extensive higher-education philanthropy—this time directing significant support to tribal colleges and Native student scholarship programs.
According to The New York Times, the gifts, which include $5 million to Little Priest Tribal College and $50 million to the Native Forward Scholars Fund, mark Scott’s expanding focus beyond her already significant contributions to historically Black colleges and universities.
Little Priest Tribal College in Winnebago, Nebraska, announced it had received $5 million from Scott as it prepared to launch a decade-long capital campaign to raise $10 million.
The gift, which arrived without restrictions, is the largest in the institution’s history. The school, which enrolls 258 students, plans to use the funds to expand its campus and advance plans for a new facility focused on trade programs.
“There’s a sense of happiness, a sense of hope,” said Manoj Patil, president of the college. He added that Scott’s support gives the institution “hope for success, hope to dream big.”
Located near the Iowa border, Little Priest Tribal College serves a community whose higher-education infrastructure relies heavily on federal support and historically modest endowments.
Scott also awarded $50 million to the Native Forward Scholars Fund, a leading organization that supports Native American undergraduate and graduate students through direct financial aid.
The fund reported a 35% surge in scholarship requests this year, making the contribution especially significant as demand outpaces resources.
The latest donations continue Scott's year of large-scale giving across multiple sectors of higher education.
Her support for HBCUs in 2025 alone has exceeded $700 million, with significant gifts to campuses including Xavier University of Louisiana ($38 million), Prairie View A&M University ($63 million), North Carolina A&T State University ($63 million), Norfolk State University ($50 million), Bowie State University ($50 million), Winston-Salem State University ($50 million), and Spelman College ($38 million).
She also provided $70 million to the United Negro College Fund to grow shared endowment resources for nearly 40 historically Black institutions.
Scott’s tribal college donations arrive at a time when schools serving Native communities are facing heightened financial uncertainty. Tribal higher education depends largely on federal funding through the Bureau of Indian Education, which supports Haskell Indian Nations University, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, and 35 tribally controlled colleges.
Budget fluctuations in recent months raised concerns among tribal education leaders, many of whom operate institutions with limited reserves and smaller endowments.
Little Priest Tribal College and Native Forward both confirmed that Scott’s representatives did not specify the reasoning behind the gifts. Scott has offered limited public commentary on her philanthropic decisions; however, in an essay last year, she referenced a Hopi Nation teaching concluding, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”