Galloway, who was an undergraduate at UCLA and received his M.B.A. from Berkeley in 1992, split the gift equally between the two UC campuses. The program aims to support adults who have faced financial limitations, institutional or social barriers, or other adversities in pursuing education.
“The accessibility and affordability of UCLA and UC Berkeley changed my life,” says Galloway, a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, successful entrepreneur, bestselling author, and podcast host. “I’m hoping this gift puts the educational resources of both universities within reach for more people and provides skills that lead to the growth of good jobs in the Main Street economy.”
Thanks to Galloway’s generosity, UC Excelerator, now in its first year, is offering tuition-free courses in high-demand fields including data analytics, business administration, project management, and pre-nursing. The program also provides academic advising and workshops led by industry professionals. Notably, 66.7 percent of applicants have self-identified as low-income, 72.2 percent as first-generation students, and 83.3 percent as historically underrepresented groups.
“Berkeley’s value to society needs to continually evolve to serve as wide a cross section of people as it can,” says Chancellor Rich Lyons. “Scott’s continuing commitment — with this donation to the UC Excelerator scholarship and past gifts that support the education of first-generation American students — is emblematic of the insight he brings to his philanthropy.”
Photo of Juan Carlos Alvarez Hernandez by Keegan Houser.
Juan Carlos Alvarez Hernandez exemplifies who the program aims to serve. He often worked in agriculture alongside his parents, who are immigrants, and has spent years as a truck driver.
“Financially, college wasn’t affordable for me, and there wasn’t much information available about funding programs,” says Alvarez Hernandez, who is studying project management. He’s already applying what he has learned to his current job and told his supervisor about his classes in hopes of one day expanding his role.
“I’ve always been kind of out in the field doing the labor,” he says. “Now that I’m going through the program, I am learning that I can do this kind of stuff.”
In just its first year, UC Excelerator is already helping students gain technical skills and the confidence to reimagine their professional futures — turning Galloway’s vision of the transformative power of education into reality.
