Oprah Winfrey Scholarship

The Oprah Winfrey Scholarship is available at (ironically) the all male historically black institution – Moorehead College.  She gave $1 million in 1989 to the college and another $1 million in 1997.  Then in 2007, she donated another $5 million and last year gave another $5 million.  That brings the total Oprah Winfrey Scholarship fund to $12 million.

So far, 250 men from 20 states have benefitted from the talk show diva’s generosity.

Oprah has also teamed up with the eLearner website to deliver several $4500 scholarships to women who are returning to school after an absence.  These scholarships are mainly for women who want to balance work, family, and life commitments by going to school online.

Oprah also uses her show to deliver scholarships to people in the audience.  In August of 2008, she pledged $1 million to audience and community members in the Whitesboro area of New Jersey.

She has also used the bully pulpit of her television talk show to encourage others to give money for scholarships.  For instance, she started the Angel Network, in part, to give viewers a chance to donate to Oprah Winfrey scholarships and other causes.

Oprah knows the value of a college scholarship.  She was able to attend Tennessee State University in part because she won a $1000 scholarship from the Elks Club in a speech contest.  Her topic was titled “The Negro, the Constitution, and the United States.”

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