The NBA superstar has partnered with the University of Akron, Ohio to provide kids with troubled backgrounds a guaranteed four-year scholarship. The $9,500/year scholarship will cover tuition and the university’s general service fee. James told ESPN he plans to send 1,100 kids to college, which will cost him and his foundation a total of $41.8 million!
“It’s the reason I do what I do,” said James, who announced the program Thursday while hosting an event for students at Cedar Point Amusement Park. “These students have big dreams, and I’m happy to do everything I can to help them get there. They’re going to have to earn it, but I’m excited to see what these kids can accomplish knowing that college is in their futures.”
“It means so much because, as a kid growing up in the inner city and a lot of African-American kids, you don’t really think past high school,” said James, who bypassed college to jump to the NBA. “You don’t really know your future. You hear high school all the time, and you graduate high school and then you never think past that because either it’s not possible or your family’s not financially stable to even be able to support a kid going to college.”