HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Marshall University President Brad Smith and his wife, Alys Smith, have made a $50 million gift to the university to promote a program aimed at eliminating student debt, the school said Tuesday.

The gift is the largest ever given to the public research university and the largest given by any sitting university president to their own institution, the school said.

The money will go toward Marshall For All, a program that allows students to combine scholarships, grants, family contributions and work opportunities to obtain a bachelor’s degree without having to apply for student loans.

Nico Karagosian, president and CEO of the Marshall University Foundation, called the gift “transformative.”

Marshall, which has nearly 10,000 undergraduate and 3,000 graduate student

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