Snapchat Co-Founder Pays College Debt for 2022 Graduates at Otis College of Art and Design

The Otis College of Art and Design graduates received the good news during their graduation ceremony. Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel and his wife Miranda Kerr will pay off the college debt for all 2022 graduates. The announcement drew both gasps and cheers from the audience as all 285 graduates heard the life-changing news. The donation is the largest single gift in the history of Otis College in Los Angeles.

Spiegel took summer classes at Otis College before entering Stanford. His creation of the popular instant messaging app with two former Stanford University classmates later made him the world’s youngest billionaire in 2015 at the age of 25. Spiegel told the graduating class
“It changed my life and made me feel at home. I felt pushed and challenged to grow surrounded by super talented artists and designers, and we were all in it together.”

Spiegel and Kerr are founders of the Spiegel Family Fund. They said in a statement that the college is “an extraordinary institution that encourages young creatives to find their artistic voices and thrive in a variety of industries and careers. It is a privilege for our family to give back and support the Class of 2022, and we hope this gift will empower graduates to pursue their passions, contribute to the world, and inspire humanity for years to come.”

Otis president Charles Hirschhorn did not disclose the size of the Spiegel family gift but said it surpassed the college’s previous largest gift of $10 million. Spiegel and Kerr offered their historic donation after Hirschhorn told them the college wanted to award the couple honorary degrees and invited them as commencement speakers this year.

The average cost of tuition is $46,500 for off campus students and $69,532 for on campus students. Rising college costs and less public funding to cover them have caused student loan debt to soar over the last few decades. More than 43 million Americans owe the federal government $1.6 trillion — an average $37,000 per person — making up the biggest share of consumer debt in the U.S. after mortgages.