Former Blackstone Inc. real estate executive John Schreiber and his wife, Kathleen, are giving a record $100 million to Loyola University Chicago to help fund scholarships for ethnically and racially diverse students.

The donation is the largest individual gift in the school’s history, Loyola said in a statement. It will help pay for tuition, room and board, and support services for minority, first-generation and other students who face challenges completing four-year degrees.

Schreiber, 75, graduated from the Jesuit school in 1968 and helped build Blackstone’s real estate business. He has been a trustee of the university since 2014, and he and his wife have been donating to Loyola since 1978.

“Education is a game-changer in America,” Schreiber said in an interview. “College has historically been inaccessible to students who are under-resourced.”

Students selected for scholarships will receive services including mentoring, wellness counseling and tutoring. They will also have access to an on-campus food pantry, housing assistance and networking opportunities, expanding to baccalaureate students the types of services offered by Loyola’s two-year Arrupe College, Loyola President Jo Ann Rooney said in an interview.

Loyola’s student body has become more diverse in recent years. About 45 percent of incoming students in the 2021-2022 academic year were people of color, up from 25 percent in 2009.

The Schreibers and Loyola plan to use the latest gift as the foundation for a new $500 million restricted portion of the endowment that will seek to make the scholarships permanent, according to the statement.

“This is something that’s a long-term university commitment,” Rooney said.