HUNTINGTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Marshall University has received a record-setting $50 million gift from President Brad D. Smith and First Lady Alys Smith to support Marshall For All, a program designed to eliminate student debt.
The donation marks the largest gift in the university’s history and is the largest personal contribution ever made by a sitting university president to their own institution.
[irp posts=”135952″]
“We are honored to support Marshall University and the Marshall For All program with this gift,” the Smiths said.
“Our ‘why’ is simple: to level the playing field in West Virginia and Appalachia. We hope this gift ensures that every student with the dream of an advanced degree has the opportunity and support to achieve it — while also showing what’s possible for the future of higher education in our region and beyond.”
Brad D. Smith, a 1986 graduate of Marshall’s Lewis College of Business, became the university’s 38th president in January 2022. His official investiture was held on Sept. 16, 2022, chosen to honor his late father’s birthday.
During that ceremony, he first announced the Marshall For All program.
“Three years ago, on my father’s birthday, I stood in front of James E. Morrow Library and made a commitment to this university and the people of West Virginia that one day all Marshall students will be able to graduate debt-free,” President Smith said.
“My father and mother have always been and remain my moral compass. They committed to providing an opportunity for their children to attend college and sacrificed to ensure my brothers and I could do so. It was a promise made and kept. Alys and I are blessed to transform that promise into the privilege to pay it forward. This gift is our promise to make that dream a reality for others who possess the aspiration and the grit to try.”
Launched in 2023, Marshall For All is designed to help students earn their bachelor’s degrees without the need for loans. By combining scholarships, grants, work opportunities, and family contributions, the program allows students to graduate with little to no debt.
Marshall plans to expand the program over the next decade, aiming for all students to graduate debt-free by the university’s bicentennial in 2037.
The program includes two key pathways:
- Marshall For All: Debt-Free – Offers a debt-free bachelor’s degree plus real-world experience for randomly selected West Virginia and Metro-Area students.
- Marshall For All: Tuition-Free WV – Covers tuition and fees for West Virginia students with family incomes below $65,000.
Currently, nearly 400 students are enrolled in the Debt-Free pathway, with many more in the Tuition-Free WV track. Students in the program have achieved higher GPAs (up 8%) and retention rates (up 9%) compared to their peers.
Of those enrolled, 69% are first-generation college students, like President Smith and his brothers.
“It is with tremendous gratitude that we share Brad and Alys’ transformative gift in support of Marshall For All,” said Nico Karagosian, president and CEO of the Marshall University Foundation.
“The Smiths are visionary partners who believe deeply in the power of accessible and affordable education for students across West Virginia and Appalachia. Their generosity propels us closer to our goal of eradicating student debt by 2037, Marshall’s 200th anniversary, while setting a new standard in higher education.”
