The nearly 400 graduating seniors of Morehouse College in the southern U.S. city of Atlanta received an unexpectedly generous graduation gift Sunday.

Billionaire technology investor and philanthropist Robert Smith told the graduates that he will pay off the student debt of the entire class.

Smith, this year's commencement speaker, is the founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm that invests in software, data and technology-driven companies.

"On behalf of the eight generations of my family that have been in this country, we're gonna put a little fuel in your bus,'' Smith told the graduates of the all-male, historically black college. "This is my class, 2019. And my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans.''

At first, students and faculty appeared stunned, but once the gravity of the news sunk in, graduates and faculty rose to their feet, cheering.

Smith had already announced a $1.5 million gift to the school before the ceremony. The pledge to eliminate student debt for the class of 2019 is estimated to cost about $40 million.

In return for the magnanimous gift, Smith said he expects the recipients to "pay it forward.''

"Many of my students are interested in going into teaching, for example, but leave with an amount of student debt that makes that untenable,'' Morehouse College President David Thomas said. "In some ways, it was a liberation gift for these young men that just opened up their choices.''

Morehouse later said it is the single largest gift to the school.

It’s tough to gain admission to Yale University, and it’s getting even tougher for international students as standout students from around the world set their sights on Yale.

The Yale Dale News, the campus newspaper, takes a look at the situation here.

Read the full story here.

Ruth Chane, a computer science major from Ethiopia, writes about her experiences settling into student life at Whitman College in the U.S. state of Washington.

"The community at Whitman College made sure I felt welcomed even before I stepped foot on campus," she says.

Read her essay here.

In The Student Life, the student newspaper for the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five liberal art colleges and two graduate schools in Claremont, California, student Rochelle Lu writes about readjusting to her Shanghai home after spending a semester in the United States.

Read the full story here.

Cedarville University in the U.S. state of Ohio says it’s got more than 140 international students representing 44 countries.

Here, the school interviews Jonathan Sutton, director of international student services. He talks about his job and the opportunities for international students on campus.

Read the full article here.

Morehouse College, a private, historically Black liberal arts college in the U.S. state of Georgia, offers a guide for international students interested in attending the school.

Among the tips to apply and thrive at Morehouse:

• Take advantage of the school’s orientation program
• Turn to the school’s Center for Academic Success for tutoring, support and more
• Immerse yourself in campus life via clubs and societies

Read the full article here.