In May, the billionaire Robert Smith was widely lauded when he announced he would pay the student debt of Morehouse College’s graduating class to the tune of $34 million. So were Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor and presidential candidate, who gave $1.8 billion to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, in 2018, and Steve Tisch, who earmarked $10 million for middle-class students at U.C.L.A. in October. Ken Langone, a founder of The Home Depot, appeared on a TV show last year to celebrate his surprise gift of $100 million to help pay the tuition of medical students at New York University.
Alissa Quart: What billionaires don’t understand about college debt
