Oprah Winfrey has long believed that education is the door to freedom, offering a chance at a brighter future. Through her private charity, The Oprah Winfrey Foundation, she has award hundreds of grants to organizations that support the empowerment and education of women, children and families. Winfrey has made significant contributions toward institutions that further education, including large gifts to several historically black colleges and universities. Recipients include the United Negro College Fund, the Harold Washington Library, Chicago Academy of Arts, Chicago Public Schools, and her alma mater, Tennessee State University.

• $100,000 to the Harold Washington Library
• $2 million grant for a scholarship fund at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia (a black men's liberal arts program)
• $1 million to the science program at Spelman College (primarily a black women's institution)
• $1 million to a Chicago high school
• $500,000 to a scholarship fund at Henry Homer Boys and Girls Club in Chicago
• Proceeds from the Oprah Winfrey: Make the Connection go to A Better Chance, which gives students from inner city schools to attend the nation's best college preparatory and public schools
• Created "The Oprah Winfrey Scholars Program," which gives scholarships to students determined to use their education to give back to their communities in the United States and abroad