AN Oxford University graduate has given £75m to the university for a scholarship to help students from low income families, branded “the largest gift of its kind in European history”.
The huge sum is being donated by Michael Moritz, a former Oxford student who became one of the most influential financiers in the technology world, and his wife, the American novelist Harriet Heyman.
Mr Moritz read modern history at Christ Church in the 1970s.
The gift, announced yesterday, will fund a major new scholarship programme, starting this autumn.
It will allow students from low-income backgrounds to complete their studies with no upfront study and living costs.
These students will receive financial support totalling £11,000 per year. They will also have their borrowing pegged to the level prior to the new higher fees regime coming into force this autumn, meaning they will need Government loans of just £3,500 a year.
Oxford University said that the donation was the “biggest philanthropic gift for undergraduate financial support in European history”.
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