Snapchat CEO Pays Off Student Loans Worth $10 Million For New Graduates

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel and his model wife Miranda Kerr paid off the entire student debt worth $10 million of 284 graduates of Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, making it the largest donation in the college's history, Los Angeles Times reported.

Evan Spiegel, who once took summer class at the art college, attended the school's graduation commencement ceremony with his wife yesterday evening. Otis President Charles Hirschhorn made the announcement during his commencement speech in  a room full of students at a hotel in Los Angeles with graduating students hugging, crying and cheering for the Snapchat CEO and his wife after the announcement was made.

"We have one more gift for the class of 2022. We know most of you and your families shared the burden of student debt at a heavy price that you paid for an exceptional Otis college education...So we are please to announce that Evan and Miranda through their Spiegel Family Fund have made the largest single gift in the history of Otis college," Charles Hirschhorn said in his speech.

Evan Spiegel and Miranda Kerr are founders of The Spiegel Family Fund. They said in a statement that the college is an "extraordinary institution that encourages young creatives to find their artistic voices and thrive in a variety of industries and careers." The Snapchat CEO and his wife offered their donation after the college wanted to award the couple honorary degrees and invited them as commencement speakers this year.

Like many other graduates, Farhan Fallahifiroozi couldn't comprehend the news that his debt was paid off. "All of it really?" "I was so much in debt. If it's really gone, it puts me so much ahead", Farhan said, who emigrated with his family from Iran in 2015 to find better opportunities took a $60,000 student loan to finance his four-year degree program.

The donation comes at a time when the student loan debt has risen in the last few decades, driven by rising college cost and less public funding. Over 43 million American owe $1.6 trillion to the federal government.