Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is making a massive donation to Johns Hopkins University to help provide financial aid for low- and middle-income students.
The university announced in a press release Sunday Bloomberg will contribute a whopping $1.8 billion — the biggest donation ever given to an academic institution in the U.S.
Bloomberg was quoted in the release as saying, "America is at its best when we reward people based on the quality of their work, not the size of their pocketbook."
Johns Hopkins says Bloomberg's donation will allow the university to be "fully and permanently need-blind" in its admissions. That means the school will admit qualified students without considering their ability to pay. The money will also get rid of student loans from financial aid packages and replace them with scholarships that don't have to be repaid.
Bloomberg graduated from Johns Hopkins in 1964. He's already given the university $1.5 billion.
Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.
