But Anil Kochhar, the commencement speaker at North Carolina State University’s Wilson College of Textiles, helped ease some of that anxiety with a surprise announcement that he’d be covering the final-year education loans for every graduate of that school who had taken out loans during the 2025-2026 academic year. 

Other publications have cited 176 bachelor’s degree recipients, with Axios reporting another 26 master’s degree recipients; NC State declined to confirm to Fortune how many borrowers would ultimately receive relief or the specifics of the loan details. A spokesperson told Fortune, however, that Kochhar’s philanthropy “provides substantial reductions in students’ debt load, which will make a meaningful impact on their ability to pursue careers with reduced debt burdens.”

Kochhar is the cofounder and former vice chairman of Outcomes Health Information Solutions, a healthcare technology company, according to Bloomberg. Despite his father’s deep ties to NC State’s textile program, his own career has been in healthcare IT. He’s also a Raleigh native and graduate of Broughton High School, and supports Daraja Academy, an organization that provides educational opportunities for girls in Kenya, according to NC State.

“My father came to NC State from India to go to textile school and improve his situation,” Kochhar said in a statement. “NC State didn’t ask why. NC State said, ‘Welcome.’”

This announcement lands as the average student debt by Americans has hit more than $39,000, according to the Education Data Initiative, and a total of 42.5 million borrowers have federal student loan debt. 

Kochhar, son of late Wilson College alumnus Prakash Chand Kochhar, was early in his commencement remarks on May 8, honoring his father, when he pivoted to what he called the “life-changing news.”

“Marilyn and I hope that all of you leave Reynolds Coliseum today not only with a degree but with greater freedom to pursue your goals, take risks and build the lives you’ve worked so hard to achieve,” Kochhar said, according to NC State.

The university coordinated with its Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid to execute the plan after Kochhar approached Dean David Hinks with the idea.

“Our goal is to make attending Wilson College of Textiles Affordable for all by enabling its students to graduate with zero or low debt, while also having high-impact experiences as a student and launching an impactful career at graduation,” Hinks said in a statement to Fortune. “Anil and Marilyn are helping the college achieve that ambitious goal.”

The student loan squeeze

In March, a federal appeals court also ordered the end of the Biden-era SAVE repayment plan, which had significantly cut monthly bills for many low-income earners. Four student loan borrowers represented by Public Goods Practice LLP filed a lawsuit against the Education Department, arguing the agency should implement the SAVE plan.

“The student loan crisis has cruelly forced millions of working Americans like me to live in a labyrinth with no clear exit despite our having followed the law,” one of the borrowers wrote in the suit, according to CNBC.

So for graduates walking into a treacherous student debt landscape, even a single round of loan forgiveness can help.

“As a daughter of immigrants, this money helps me and my family a lot, and I’m really fortunate to have an opportunity like this,” Alyssa D’Costa, a fashion and textile management major who received her bachelor’s degree on May 8, said in a statement.

Hinks, the inaugural Prakash Chand Kochhar Dean at Wilson College, framed the gift as part of a broader push to make the college “affordable for all.”

“Anil and Marilyn Kochhars’ kind and generous gift is a powerful vote of confidence in the value and impact of a degree from NC State,” Hinks told Fortune in a statement. He added NC State is “one of the highest return-on-investment universities anywhere, with high career placement rates and relatively low tuition.” 

NC State’s annual tuition and fees for in-state students living on campus are about $9,000, and out-of-state students pay roughly $33,000. Among Wilson College bachelor’s degree survey respondents who reported salaries, the average starting salary was $60,625 for Dec. 2024 and May 2025 graduates.

The gift builds on a separate Kochhar family donation announced in March that created NC State’s fourth named deanship, along with new endowments for faculty and graduate students, according to NC State. Anil Kochhar’s father, who arrived at NC State from Punjab, India, in 1946 and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in textile manufacturing, has inspired the family’s giving at the university for four decades.

“My father could not have imagined this moment,” Kochhar told the audience. “Not just me standing here, but all of you sitting here.”