NC State donor erases senior-year loans for textiles graduates

A commencement surprise at NC State on Friday did more than draw applause. Anil Kochhar told Wilson College of Textiles graduates that he and his wife, Marilyn, would pay off all final-year education loans incurred during the 2025-26 academic year, wiping out a debt burden that can otherwise shadow first jobs, rent checks and moving expenses.

The announcement came during the Wilson College of Textiles ceremony at Reynolds Coliseum, and college leaders quickly worked with NC State’s Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid to make the gift happen. David Hinks, the inaugural Prakash Chand Kochhar Dean at the college, said he was thrilled when Kochhar asked whether the idea was possible. Kochhar said the gift was made “in honor of my father Prakash Chand Kochhar,” and told students he hoped they would leave with “greater freedom to pursue your goals, take risks and build the lives you’ve worked so hard to achieve.”

For graduates like Alyssa D’Costa, the relief was immediate and personal. D’Costa, a fashion and textile management major, said the gift would help her and her family a lot because she is “a daughter of immigrants.” That makes the payoff more than a ceremonial flourish. It removes a layer of financial pressure at the exact moment many new graduates are trying to decide where to live, what jobs to take and whether they can afford to stay near Raleigh and the Triangle.

The timing made the gesture land with extra weight. NC State said its spring 2026 commencement on Saturday, May 9, included more than 7,400 graduates and 7,808 degrees awarded in total. The class included 1,432 first-generation students, 133 veterans and 722 international students, a mix that underscores how student debt can hit families differently and shape decisions long after the diplomas are handed out.

The Wilson College of Textiles has long tied its identity to donor support. Its North Carolina Textile Foundation says it has funded more than $50 million for college priorities, administers more than 100 scholarships each year and was incorporated in 1942 by textile industry leaders. In March, Anil and Marilyn Kochhar announced another major gift that created three endowments, including a named deanship, in memory of Prakash Chand Kochhar ’50, ’52.

The college traces its history at NC State to 1899 and marked 125 years of textiles education and innovation. Friday’s surprise fit that tradition, but it also cut closer to the lived reality facing many graduates: a good job offer still matters, but so does the debt that comes with getting there.