Easy money to university students

The donation should help about 100 students, says the LSE

The founder of the Easyjet airline has donated £2m to his old university to help fund scholarships.

Stelios Haji-Ioannou said he had made the donation to The London School of Economics "to give something back".

The money will be used to provide scholarships and bursaries for students from the UK and other EU countries.

The university launched a campaign in 1997 to raise £100m from philanthropic support and has so far raised £70m.

Stelios Haji-Ioannou said: "I could have helped students just in Cyprus but I made my fortune in this country and I did well at LSE, which is one of the best in the country but is out of the grasp of many students who quite simply can't afford to go there.

"I decided to put something back."

He said he had been influenced by meeting people who had benefited from a trust set up by his father to fund the studies of Cypriot students abroad.

"I saw how much difference my father's scholarships were making and how much his students were getting out of it," he said.

Figures released on Thursday showed that, among the 10 states which joined the EU last year, Cyprus sent the most students to the UK: 1,332.

Of the £70m raised by the LSE since 1997, £10m is for bursaries and other financial support for students.

The money has come from past students as well as companies, trusts and foundations.

The university says a third of its additional income from top-up fees will be spent on student support.

Universities are generally pledging to set aside between 10 to 30% of their additional income from variable fees for bursaries and scholarships.

Last week, the University of Central Lancashire said it would use 55% of its extra income in this way.

Mr Haji-Ioannou built the UK carrier Easyjet into one of Europe's biggest no-frills airlines before stepping down from its board in 2002.

His firm Easygroup and members of his family still own about 41% of the shares in the airline.