The Rubens Family Foundation has pledged $20 million over five years in support of the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship, GeekWire reports.

The gift will support the expansion of WSOS, a public-private initiative that funds college scholarships for low- and middle-income students who are pursuing four-year degrees in the fields of health care and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The largest gift to the program since its launch in 2011 will be matched with another $20 million from the state to fund scholarships for sixty-eight hundred eligible Washington residents. With initial investments totaling $50 million from Microsoft and Boeing, WSOS has awarded forty-four hundred scholarships to date; more than half the recipients are first-generation college students, 60 percent of them are female, and a majority identify as students of color.

"I grew up poor and did not have an opportunity to go to college because my family could not afford it, so I have a passion for those in need of an education," the foundation's founder, Gary J. Rubens, told GeekWire. A longtime Seattle resident, Rubens started a manufacturing company in the hospitality industry and later launched a home furnishing and fixtures e-commerce site that was acquired by Lowe's. He hopes to help expand the startup ecosystem in Seattle by opening doors for tomorrow's entrepreneurs — particularly those who may not have the opportunity otherwise.

"These grants are specifically for underprivileged, low-income kids who are sometimes the first college attendee in their family," said Rubens. "We literally want to break the cycle [of poverty] and change the course of a kid’s life through education."