MacKenzie Scott’s historic $20 million donation to a community college is now mired in controversy amid ongoing investigation

MacKenzie Scott has made thousands of donations over the past few years, totaling an eye-popping $26 billion. Organizations focused on myriad causes including education, DEI, disaster recovery, and more have often said these gifts are record-breaking or life-changing—and much of it goes back to Scott’s philosophy: trust-based philanthropy.

But there’s one gift that wasn’t used as intended, at least according to some stakeholders. In 2021, Scott, the billionaire philanthropist and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, donated a record $20 million to Santa Barbara City College (SBCC)—the largest gift in the school’s 112-year history. The gift came at a time when SBCC and U.S.

community colleges were facing a “serious enrollment decline” owing to the pandemic, according to an SBCC statement from 2021. “This gift is an act of incredible generosity and due to its unrestricted nature, a demonstration of tremendous trust in our community’s college,” former SBCC Foundation CEO Geoff Green said in the 2021 statement.

“It reinforces the importance of providing quality higher education that is accessible to everyone.” But in late January, the SBCC board of trustees disclosed that about $10.5 million of that gift had been spent without explicit authorization from either the foundation’s board, college officials, or the trustees themselves.

“The board of trustees has initiated its own investigation into what occurred, consistent with its commitment to sound governance and public trust,” the board noted in a Jan. 30 statement. “The use of the MacKenzie Scott gift will be on the Feb.

19, 2026, board of trustees agenda for an initial discussion and to hear public comment.” That gift was supposed to be the kind of feel-good story that has become Scott’s signature: a record donation to a community college that could turbocharge access for low-income students.

Instead, the money has become a flashpoint over governance, transparency, and what happens when a “no-strings” philosophy meets a public institution’s accountability rules. Still, the funds largely underwrote the college’s Promise Program, which covers tuition, books, and supplies for roughly 1,800 local students each year.

The problem was the funding was never approved.  Internal review About $10.5 million of Scott’s gift was used for the program from 2021 to 2024, Bobbi Abram, CEO of the SBCC Foundation, told SFGate, and about $13 million of Scott’s gift remains, according to a board of trustees statement.

Abram, who took over the SBCC Foundation in 2024, ordered an internal review after spotting accounting discrepancies, but told People the gift wasn’t “misused.” “More than 1,800 local students are supported by the Promise each year. This is a nationally recognized program which makes higher education accessible for local families,” Abram told People .

“Using some of the Scott gift funds for the Promise was not a ‘misuse.’ It was entirely consistent with the foundation’s mission and in the spirit of the donor’s intent.” Instead, Abram chalked it up to just an “accounting process failure” and a “lack of transparency,” and claimed they “now have it corrected.” Still, the board of trustees launched its own investigation and will have a public discussion on the matter on Thursday.