Hunt family gives $100 million for UA Land of Opportunity Scholarship

With the help of a $100 million gift from the J.B. Hunt Foundation, the University of Arkansas announced the creation of its Land of Opportunity Scholarship for Pell grant-eligible and other low-income Arkansas students.

Siblings Jane and Bryan Hunt, both University of Arkansas graduates and the children of trucking magnates J.B. Hunt and Johnelle Hunt, announced the awarding of the gift on behalf of the family with Johnelle Hunt in the audience. The late J.B. Hunt quit school in the seventh grade to support his family.

“After graduating from the University of Arkansas, I began my teaching career in the Arkansas Delta, and I have been committed to helping Arkansans break the cycle of poverty by attaining a college degree. We know that removing financial barriers is a pathway to graduation and career success,” Jane Hunt noted in a statement from the university “When you earn a degree from a university you’re on your way. Arkansas was the Land of Opportunity for my dad. Supporting this effort is exactly what we should be doing and we are proud to be a part of it.”

Chancellor Dr. Charles Robinson announced the gift and the scholarship on Tuesday (Nov. 12), along with an overall goal of $200 million during the public phase of the three-year Land of Opportunity Scholarship Campaign. Counting other donations, the fund now has $122.035 million pledged. The latest $10,000 came during the event when radio personality Bobby Bones, who co-hosted, announced he was donating that amount.

The scholarship will serve only Arkansas residents and will not provide students a set amount. Instead, it will assess each student’s individual financial needs along with what other scholarships they already have been awarded, Robinson said. Students eligible for federal Pell grants and those with incomes just above that income level will qualify. Recipients also will be provided wraparound support services such as mentorship, academic coaching, financial planning, career readiness and internships.

The application process for the scholarships will begin during the 2025-26 academic year, with the first cohort of recipients beginning their studies in the fall 2026 semester. Robinson said the scholarship will serve students in all of Arkansas’ 75 counties. The announcement comes as the university is educating a record number of Arkansans.

Robinson said there is an 18-point gap in graduation success separating Arkansans who are eligible for Pell grants and those who aren’t. He said those lower-income individuals are less likely to graduate because of their competing responsibilities.

“Here’s the thing: You can advise all you want, but if people don’t have the money, they can’t stay here to listen to what you have to say,” he said. “You can encourage students to get involved in (registered student organizations). But if they don’t have the time because they have to work, then they can’t participate in it. And so this resource will give students an opportunity to be able to engage the campus like never before, give students an opportunity to learn co-curricularly, to study more, to get involved in career development early on. … We’re going to transform the lives of generations of Arkansans through this Land of Opportunity Scholarship, and I just couldn’t be happier about it.”

The Hunts – Jane Hunt, Bryan and Mandy Hunt, Mrs. Johnelle Hunt and the J.B. and Johnelle Hunt family – are part of a Land of Opportunity Scholarship Leaders of Arkansas Founders’ Circle, which is composed of donors who have given at least $1 million, according to a University of Arkansas press release.

Other members of the Circle include Bill and Mandy Dillard; the Chris and Jamie Fowler family; the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation; Becky and Bob Alexander and the Becky and Bob Alexander Charitable Foundation; Rick Massey and Anne Goodman and the Massey Family Charitable Foundation; the Stella Boyle Smith Trust, Catherine H. Mayton and Michael R. Mayton, trustees; and Bruce and Rebecca Woody.