A surprise act of kindness has made Wiley College’s graduation day even brighter.

On May 7, the historically Black college’s class of 2022 received the news that their remaining balances were paid off by an anonymous donor, according to a press release. For the college’s 133rd Commencement Convocation, the donation was announced to over 100 graduates by President & CEO Herman J. Felton, Jr. J.D., Ph.D.

“You are debt-free. You do not owe the college a penny. If you have a balance, you had a balance,” Felton said in a video tweeted by Wiley College.

Per the press release, the donor cleared an estimated total balance of $300,000. With the gift, the graduating class has been provided the freedom to focus on their future careers instead of student debt.

What’s more, recently, another pair of donors shared a similar hope for wanting students’ endeavors to not be stifled by financial barriers. As previously reported by AfroTech, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Siris Frank Baker — and his wife Laura — donated $1.2 million to Florida A&M University (FAMU) students to “provide funding for students who are qualified to graduate in four years but have an outstanding account balance to the university.”

“In 2020, we established Siris’ Florida office, and as part of that, we believed it was important to invest in our new community,” Frank said in a statement. “Through our conversations with FAMU, we learned there are extremely capable students who aren’t able to graduate in four years solely due to limited financial resources. We also discovered that the four year graduation rate is a key metric in determining the amount of funding FAMU receives from the State of Florida. This made our ‘investment’ decision pretty easy — FAMU students in the work force sooner and potentially unlocking more State funding.”