Shaquille O’Neal‘s motive is to earn while giving back to society. Having invested in numerous Edtech startups such as Edsoma and more, the ‘Big Aristotle’ ensures that kids all around the world have success in education. His latest initiative also focuses on the same.

It will see around 500 high school students and recent graduates get higher education. For the initiative, the 4x NBA champion joined hands with Campus, which was founded by 29-year-old Tade Oyerinde. 

Campus.edu will offer four business degree programs, Introduction to Business Administration, Principles of Marketing, Principles of Microeconomics, and English Composition. Students will have the liberty to choose from any of the above. 

A student usually has to pay around $56,850 for their MBA course, resulting in a total cost of $28 million for 500 students. Even if they are pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration, the cost would rise to $20 million. Therefore, Shaq’s initiative ‘Try College’ aims to remove this $20 million burden on high school students and further encourage and cultivate their interest in higher education, as reported by Afrotech.com.

Shaquille O’Neal was impressed by Tade Oyerinde’s plan

The sudden decline in students’ interest in applying for college education was because of the high fees. Speaking of the situation, ‘Big Aristotle’ said, “What we’re seeing today is too many kids wondering if college is still worth it. These students either feel like they aren’t college material or believe the price tag is out of reach, and that’s a shame.”

Oyerinde had a similar opinion. His initiative was to help the students get access to higher education while combatting the issue of low wages for part-time professors. This gave rise to his college start-up Campus. In 2023, his startup received a $29 million fund. After reading Oyerinde’s achievement in a Forbes article, O’Neal was highly impressed and decided to invest in his startup.

About his role in the new initiative, the Los Angeles Lakers legend said, “We believe everyone should have access to higher learning, and with that in mind, we’re making college classes available for free so that hundreds of students have the opportunity to show the world what they can do.”

With his efforts, he continues to make contributions that are slowly but steadily making bigger changes in the future. Every Christmas, the ‘Big Man’ helps kids by donating clothes, food, and toys. The larger-than-life man never ceases to amaze us with his kindness and business knowledge.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.