NC State donor erases final-year student loans for textiles graduates

A surprise in Reynolds Coliseum turned NC State’s Wilson College of Textiles commencement into something far bigger than a graduation ceremony: Anil Kochhar and Marilyn Kochhar said they would pay off all final-year education loans taken out by this year’s graduates in the college.

The announcement came during the Wilson College ceremony on May 8, 2026, in Raleigh, and the university said it immediately set off enthusiasm, excitement and emotion among graduates and families. Local reporting put the number of students affected at about 176, while other coverage described the gift as reaching around 200 graduates. However counted, the result was the same: a room full of seniors learned that loans they had expected to carry into their first jobs would be erased before they even left campus.

For Alyssa D’Costa, a fashion and textile management major in the college’s accelerated bachelor’s/master’s program, the impact was personal as well as symbolic. She earned her bachelor’s degree that day and was set to finish her master’s degree in the spring. The gift landed at the exact moment many students are making the transition from classrooms and studios to paychecks, a reminder of how quickly the cost of a degree can follow students into adulthood.

The Kochhars said the gift honored Prakash Chand Kochhar, Anil Kochhar’s late father, who earned degrees from NC State in 1950 and 1952 after coming to the university from India in the 1940s. He later worked in the textiles field, and his family has tied the gift to that legacy of opportunity. NC State said college leadership worked with the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid to make the plan possible.

The family’s support did not stop with loan relief. They also established three endowments in Prakash Chand Kochhar’s memory to support leadership, faculty and graduate students, deepening a connection to the college that has lasted across generations.

The timing made the gesture even more striking. Wilson College of Textiles held its own commencement on May 8, one day before NC State’s main spring university ceremony at Carter-Finley Stadium on May 9. For Wake County, the moment captured both sides of higher education today: the celebration of academic achievement and the lingering pressure of paying for it.