Anil Kochhar, a donor to North Carolina State University, gave graduates of the Wilson College of Textiles more than just words of wisdom during his keynote commencement address on 8 May. The Indian American entrepreneur announced that he would pay off any student loans taken out by the college's graduating pupils during their senior year.
“I hope that all of you leave … today not only with a degree but with greater freedom to pursue your goals, take risks and build the lives that you’ve worked so hard to achieve,” Kochhar said, prompting loud cheers, applause, and a standing ovation from the audience.
Video of Kochhar’s announcement quickly went viral in parts of the internet dedicated to acts of kindness. Approximately 43 million people in the US carry student loan debt totaling nearly $1.7tn, and those who have received relief describe it as transformative.
Among the degree recipients was Alyssa D’Costa, who said, “As a daughter of immigrants, this money helps me and my family a lot,” according to a statement from North Carolina State.
Kochhar and his wife, Marilyn, decided to pay off the senior-year student loan debts for the Wilson College of Textiles’ graduating class of 2026 as a gesture honoring Anil’s late father, Prakash Chand Kochhar, an alumnus of the institution. Prakash was born in Punjab, India, before enrolling in 1946 at NC State, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in textile manufacturing in 1950 and 1952.
“He could not have imagined the life it would create, or that one day his son would stand here speaking to a graduating class at the very institution that welcomed him,” said Anil Kochhar, co-founder of a healthcare technology software company.
Kochhar added that his father would have been exhilarated to see “a new generation, shaped by a different world – but connected by the same spirit of possibility that brought him here decades ago.”
David Hinks, dean of the Wilson College of Textiles, called the gift “an extraordinary investment in our newest … alumni.” The commencement saw 176 students receive bachelor’s degrees and 26 receive master’s degrees at North Carolina State’s William Neal Reynolds Coliseum.
“Graduates, the world is waiting for what you create – with no friggin’ last-year debt,” Kochhar said. “Go get ’em.”
