BATON ROUGE, La. First Lady Melania Trump announced on Saturday that Louisiana State University has secured $7.2 million to create a permanent scholarship endowment for students who experienced foster care.
“Today, Louisiana State University is launching a Seven Million Two Hundred Thousand Dollar FOSTERING THE FUTURE scholarship endowment fund,” Mrs. Trump said at an event in Baton Rouge. “This achievement will give young people from foster care an anchor of stability, a strong educational foundation, and a chance to build a wonderful life.”
The endowment funds scholarships at LSU through Fostering the Future, the initiative Mrs. Trump started in 2021 as part of her BE BEST program. MMR Group, a Baton Rouge based industrial contractor, committed $5 million. Additional donors through the LSU Foundation provided the rest, according to the White House.
“Access is a top priority for LSU, because circumstances should not determine whether talent and ambition thrive,” LSU President Wade Rousse said in the White House statement. He called the MMR funding transformative for young people from foster care who want to earn an LSU degree.
Mrs. Trump traveled to Baton Rouge for Saturday night’s football game between LSU and Alabama, and the initiative was showcased across Tiger Stadium. LSU players wore BE BEST Fostering the Future patches on their jerseys, and SEC officials agreed to use a First Lady Melania Trump Challenge Coin for the game’s coin toss, the White House said.
Fourteen Fostering the Future scholars study at LSU and nine at Alabama. Across the country, 26 universities are supporting 100 scholars this semester, Mrs. Trump said.
She closed her remarks by speaking directly to young people in foster care. “To the Fostering the Future scholars here today, and throughout America: I see you. I believe in you. And I will keep working to create new opportunities with you.”
The White House said the initiative has also backed federal changes to the child welfare system and secured $30 million for the Melania Trump Foster Youth to Independence program, which helps young people leaving foster care with housing and other support.
The final total was larger than first announced. When the White House confirmed the visit on Wednesday, it put the endowment at $5 million, the amount MMR Group had committed. The figure announced on Saturday rose to $7.2 million with the additional LSU Foundation donors counted in.
