NC State students get stunning, big-ticket surprise at graduation ceremony
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Anil Kochhar will pay all Wilson College education loans incurred this academic year.
- Wilson College of Textiles grads rose into a standing ovation after the announcement.
- The Kochhar family has made significant gifts to the Wilson College in the past.
At their commencement ceremony Friday, graduates of NC State University’s Wilson College of Textiles heard potentially life-changing financial news.
They won’t have to pay off any student debt they incurred for senior year.
Commencement speaker Anil Kochhar, whose father attended Wilson College, announced he would be paying all the debt taken out by the graduates in their final year of school.
“It is my privilege to announce today that, in honor of my father Prakash Chand Kochhar, Marilyn and I are providing a graduation gift to cover all the final-year education loans incurred by Wilson College graduates during the 2025–26 academic year,” Kochhar said.
“Marilyn and I hope that all of you leave Reynolds Coliseum today not only with a degree but with greater freedom to pursue your goals, take risks and build the lives you’ve worked so hard to achieve.”
Disbelief turned into cheers as students rose into a standing ovation. Student loans from senior year forgiven — just like that.
Alyssa D’Costa, a fashion and textile management major, was among the astonished crowd.
“As a daughter of immigrants, this money helps me and my family a lot, and I’m really fortunate to have an opportunity like this,” D’Costa said.
Kochhar’s father travelled from Punjab, India, to Raleigh in 1946 to study textile manufacturing at NC State. He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Wilson College, and went on to have a career that allowed him to travel the country and the world.
“My father could not have imagined this moment. Not just me standing here, but all of you sitting here. A new generation, shaped by a different world, but connected by the same spirit of possibility that brought him here decades ago. And that’s what today represents,” Kochhar said.
“Eighty years ago, a young man traveled thousands of miles from India to Raleigh with little more than hope and determination. He could not have known where that journey would lead. He could not have imagined the life it would create, or that one day his son would stand here speaking to a graduating class at the very institution that welcomed him.”
The Kochhar family has also funded a scholarship and made significant gifts to Wilson College in recent years.
This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 4:44 PM.
