College Of The Desert Gets $18 Million From Scott Foundation

PALM DESERT, CA —The MacKenzie Scott Foundation announced Tuesday numerous charitable contributions, including an $18 million gift to College of the Desert. The grant will help fund the school's EDGE/plEDGE, a program that provides local students with free tuition to the community college.

Scott, a leading philanthropist, writer and the ex-wife of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, announced her foundation was giving away $2.74 billion to 286 organizations that she said were in categories and communities that have been historically underfunded and overlooked. College of the Desert was one of 31 colleges on the list.

"Higher education is a proven pathway to opportunity, so we looked at two and four-year institutions successfully educating students who come from communities that have been chronically underserved," Bezos said in a statement.

The $18 million gift was the largest one-time grant in College of the Desert's 60-plus year history.

In a news release, Jeff Baker, College of the Desert's interim superintendent/president, said the donation would be used for EDGE/plEDGE, which "provides local high school grads with free tuition and fees for up to two years along with wrap around student support and services and resources needed to be successful at the college."

"At College of the Desert we (like Scott) recognize that higher education is a pathway to opportunity, and we have made a substantial investment in our EDGE/plEDGE program to support that opportunity for our community," Baker said. "This amazing donation will allow us to support what we envision as a never-ending program that will allow future generations to pursue their dreams of a college education."

Since 2017, EDGE/plEDGE has had many benefits for College of the Desert and its students, including: increasing the number of first-time, full-time college students at the school from 40 to 85 percent, decreasing the time it takes to complete a degree, increasing degree and certificate attainment by 62 percent and increasing student transfers into four-year colleges by as much as 70 percent, according to College of the Desert.

"The Board of Trustees and I are incredibly grateful to MacKenzie Scott and to all those that have supported us in our mission to make education accessible to everyone in our communities regardless of their background or economic status," said Aurora Wilson, chair of the College of the Desert Board of Trustees. "This historic gift will serve to increase access to education and training impacting the success of our students and our communities for years to come."

Previously, the EDGE/plEDGE program received annual financial support from the College of the Desert Alumni Association and College of the Desert Foundation, specifically the Richard Brooke Foundation.

"We've always known that to make a lasting difference for our students and our community we must find a way to endow the program," Baker said. "(Tuesday) we learned that we have received a donation that puts us well on our way to doing that."