# Venture capitalist to give £75 million to poorest students at Oxford University

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/07/12/venture-capitalist-give-75m-poorest-students-oxford-university/
- Published: 2012-07-12T08:26:27+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The University of Oxford is to receive £75 million from venture capitalist Michael
Moritz and his wife Harriet Heyman. The money comes with a ‘matched funding challenge’
to the University so should generate £300 million. **

It is to be used to support UK undergraduates from lower-income backgrounds.

According to the University, this is “**the biggest philanthropic gift for undergraduate
financial support in European history**“. It means that Oxford students from the
lowest-income families will receive financial support totalling £11,000 per year,
eliminating all living costs. They will need £3,500 a year for tuition, but this
can be borrowed as a student loan, repayable after graduation in line with future
earnings.

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Moritz, an alumnus of Christ Church, is Chairman of Sequoia Capital, and has invested
in a number of digital companies including PayPal, YouTube and Google. He is a member
of The Giving Pledge.

His father escaped from Nazi Germany and benefited from a scholarship at a London
school.

Moritz and his wife are already responsible for the largest single gift in recent
history to Christ Church, Oxford, when in 2008 they donated $50 million (over £25
million).

Students qualifying for support from the Moritz-Heyman scholarship will also receive
financial support during university vacations, and benefit from an internship programme
to foster career opportunities.
In return they will be asked to encourage the next
generation of Oxford students from under-represented groups, by giving talks at 
schools or mentoring school pupils.

Moritz said: “Real talent is housed everywhere. Our new scholarship programme means
that a gifted student – irrespective of financial circumstances – will always be
100% confident they can study at Oxford”.

## Staged giving and matched funding

The total gift of £75 million will be made in three tranches of £25 million. Each
of these sums will be matched by £25 million of the University’s own endowment.

[The University](http://www.ox.ac.uk) and its supporters will then be challenged
to match the first £50 million combination of donation and endowment. Only when 
that has been achieved will the next £25 million donation be made. The process will
be repeated a further two times.

The scholarships are available for students starting in October 2012.

 * **[Striking series of donations totalling £100 million show British universities are a big draw to philanthropists, says BWB](https://fundraising.co.uk/2013/12/09/striking-series-donations-totalling-100m-show-british-universities-big-draw-philanthropists-says-bwb/)(
   9 December 2013)

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