Taylor Swift Just Paid Off a Teenager’s College GoFundMe

First, Taylor Swift sent funds to fans struggling with coronavirus-related financial issues. Now, the Folklore singer is helping a prospective student pay for college. Earlier this week, Swift donated £23,373 (about $30,000 U.S.) to Vitoria Mario, an 18-year-old student hoping to study mathematics at the University of Warwick in the U.K. Despite receiving a conditional offer to study at Warwick as well as maintaining excellent grades throughout high school, Mario was still in limbo regarding her attendance due to “socio-economic barriers.”

“I have lived in the U.K. for [four] years now, after migrating from Portugal to live with family in Tottenham,” Mario writes on her GoFundMe page. “The socio-economic barriers of not being eligible for maintenance loans/grants is due not only to not having ‘Home’ status, but also because my family are low income, and unable to help me self-fund through university.”

Mario was hoping to raise about $40,000 to cover tuition, housing, and supplies for her four-year study period.

Less than a month after launching her GoFundMe, Mario has exceeded her goal amount—largely thanks to a generous donor that claims to be Taylor Swift.

“Vitoria, I came across your story online and am so inspired by your drive and dedication to turning your dreams into reality,” Swift’s donation message reads. “I want to gift you the rest of your goal amount. Good luck with everything you do! Love, Taylor.”

Now, there’s no actual confirmation that Swift herself is behind the donation. Technically, it could be anyone—perhaps a big Swifty who has chosen to remain anonymous. However, because it’s clearly someone who can drop a cool $30,000, all signs point to this donor being real-life Taylor Swift.

Thanks to Swift’s donation, as well as donations from over 1,000 contributors, Mario’s place at Warwick was confirmed as of August 14th, and now she knows for sure that she can attend.