The Davis New Mexico Scholarship program has received a $60 million gift from its founder, Andrew Davis, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. 

The gift will enable the program, which provides scholarships to first-generation college students from New Mexico, to award fifty scholarships annually over the next four years. The scholarships cover the full cost of attending one of six out-of-state partner institutions — the University of Portland (Portland, Oregon), Lawrence University (Appleton, Wisconsin), Southwestern University (Georgetown, Texas), Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles, California), University of Denver (Denver, Colorado), and St. Edward's University (Austin, Texas). Awarded in the fall of the students' senior year of high school, the program also provides scholarship recipients with college counseling, opportunities for meetups with other students, and individualized academic and emotional support over the course of their college careers.

Launched as an extension of Breakthrough Santa Fe, a college preparatory program targeting low-income and first-generation Santa Fe students, the program was spun off in 2014. To date, Davis Scholarships totaling more than $10 million have been awarded to over a hundred and fifty students; according to the Center for First Generation Student Success, participants in the program have a four-year graduation rate of 93 percent.

"We set out to prove that with the right resources and support, dedicated students from New Mexico can compete with their peers nationwide," said Davis in a statement. "Giving New Mexican students the opportunity to grow and learn alongside students from around the country will ultimately benefit every New Mexican."