On Saturday, the 2022 graduating class of Wiley College received their degrees, and the news that an anonymous donor paid off their student loan debt, KSLA reports.

Wiley President and CEO Herman J. Felton, Jr., J.D., Ph.D., made the announcement during the ceremony surprising the graduates and everyone in attendance with the remarkable act of generosity.

“Our commitment to our students goes beyond their time while they are enrolled,” Felton said. “We are constantly communicating with donors to assist students in these ways so that they can begin their after-college experience with less debt. We are grateful for this anonymous donor who will assist the students in paying off their balances to Wiley College and help us achieve institutional goals of graduating our students with little to no debt.”

While the HBCU has reduced tuition costs over the past few years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other extenuating circumstances, many students still have balances left over from the prior semester.

According to the school’s administration, the estimated amount of the balances that students owed to the college was about $300,000.