The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff has yet again found itself in the good graces of an anonymous donor. Learn more about this latest donation, which has amounted to $500,000, in the full story from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette below.

The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff campus is shown in this Jan. 20, 2021, file photo. (Credit: Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)

The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff has received a $500,000 gift to assist students in pursuing college degrees.

The donation from an anonymous individual donor is the second such gift to UAPB this academic year. The university received $250,000 in August from the same donor, according to the announcement Thursday.

The contribution represents one of the largest gifts from an individual donor and expands the university’s capacity to assist students with a variety of educational needs, financially, according to UAPB Chancellor Laurence B. Alexander.

“UAPB continues to increase successful outcomes for students,” Alexander said. “This gift will provide the much-needed flexible funding that allows us to assist students in achieving their objective of a college degree without the burdens of crippling financial debt.”

According to the terms of the agreement, the gift will help UAPB focus on the national Finish Line Strategy in assisting students and provides direct funding to college students as they address the financial roadblocks that might hamper their pursuit of college degrees, according to the news release.

“The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is an 1890 Land-Grant HBCU with a diverse student population, competitive degree offerings and stellar faculty,” according to the release.

“For more than 140 years, UAPB has worked to create an environment that emphasizes learning, growth and productivity while affording a basic need to its students: a chance to advance. UAPB offers certificate and associate degree programs, more than 40 undergraduate and master’s degree programs and a doctoral program in Aquaculture/Fisheries. Students are active in more than 100 organizations, including an internationally renowned Vesper Choir, Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South Band, Concert Bands, Wind Symphony and an accomplished athletics program.”